The School Nutrition Association, which represents 55,000 school food service directors around the country, will ask Congress to roll back a number of changes to school meals that the Agriculture Department has implemented under the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

Congress is scheduled to reauthorize the school meals programs and other child nutrition programs in 2015.

When delegates to SNA’s Legislative Action Conference visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday they will also ask members of Congress to urge Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to support their proposals.

Among the key items in SNA’s position paper are the following:

• Keep the requirement that 50 percent of grains must be “whole-grain rich” rather than the 100 percent rule that is to go into effect on July 1, on the grounds that schools have had a hard time finding whole-grain rich items such as tortillas, biscuits and pasta that students will accept.
• Suspend the implementation of a lower sodium target in 2017 on the grounds that certain popular foods such as pizza, macaroni and cheese and deli sandwiches could be stripped from school menus if manufacturers cannot meet the standards.
• Remove the requirement that students must select a half cup of fruit or vegetable as part of a reimbursable breakfast and/or lunch.
• Reopen the comment Smart Snacks in School until July 2015 rather than putting the program into effect in July 2014.
• Provide flexibility in the requirement that schools increase their prices for those students who do not qualify for free or reduced price meals.

• School Nutrition Association — 2014 Position Paper on Federal Child Nutrition Programs
• — 2014 Position Paper Talking Points