Concannon: SNA ‘playing with fire’ if it requests permanent school meal rule changes
June 03, 2014 | 11:59 AM
The School Nutrition Association is acting dangerously in its campaigns to ask Congress for one-year waivers from the healthier school meals rules and possibly for permanent changes to the rule next year, Agriculture Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon told The Hagstrom Report in an interview Monday.
Kevin Concannon
“It is a serious mistake by the current leadership at SNA” to ask Congress to require USDA to grant a one-year waiver from the requirements to any school that says it has been losing money in its meals program for six months, Concannon said, adding that he is “afraid that some of the folks in the Congress who are willing to do so” are not committed to making sure the changes will benefit children.
The House Appropriations Committee last week passed a fiscal year 2015 Agriculture appropriations bill with a provision that would require USDA to grant the waivers. The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed a bill with minor changes to the programs. Both bills are expected to move to the floors of their respective chambers this summer.
Of the likelihood that SNA, which represents school meal preparers, will seek permanent changes to the rule in 2015 during the reauthorization of the child nutrition programs, Concannon said that would be “playing with fire.”
Noting that SNA represents only 55,000 of the 300,000 people who work in school meals programs, Concannon said he considers it “very unfortunate” to have “one association” calling for the waiver and changes when no other health or dietetics association has asked for them. SNA, he said, is “isolated” on the issue.
Janey Thornton, the deputy undersecretary who is in charge of the school meals programs, offered to hold a conference call with the SNA leadership to discuss the situation but SNA turned down the offer, Concannon said. Thornton, he noted, is a former school food service director in Kentucky and a former SNA president.
“We are, over and above everything else, saying stay the course,” Concannon said, on implementing the school meals rules under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. “The act is working,” he added. “We are in the middle of an obesity epidemic in the United States.”
Concannon acknowledged that some schools are having a “bigger, steeper climb” than those that started changing their meals before the 2010 act required them to reduce sugar, fat and salt and serve low-fat dairy and meat products, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables.
But he pointed out that as problems “have been brought to our attention,” USDA has either waived certain requirements or slowed down their implementation.
SNA has said that plate waste has increased, but Concannon said that children taking food they don’t eat always been a problem with school meals, and that he believes a Harvard study that showed it has not increased.
Of SNA’s request that USDA end the requirement that students be required to take fruits and vegetables at each meal, Concannon said he has seen children putting these on their plates on his trips around the country, and that if they are not “routinely” exposed to fruits and vegetables, they won’t eat them.
Of statements that some school food service workers themselves don’t like the new foods, Concannon said that “it is fair to say” that the eating habits of many school food service workers “reflect the eating patterns of the rest of the country.”
“We eat too much processed foods and consume too many calories. That contributes to obesity.”
Concannon noted that he has seen “some really creative” food service directors around the country. In a Cambridge, Mass. school, he said, the school food service director, who is from Haiti, puts fruits and vegetables at the front of the line.
“It looked to me like a mini Whole Foods in terms of the piles of tangerines and pears,” he said. “We all eat with our eyes, it has to be attractive.”
Concannon also rejects the idea that the new school meal rules come from government “bureaucracy.” The new rules, he noted, are based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine.
“These are people grounded in what we should be eating,” he said.
Of complaints last week on an SNA call with school food service directors that students in the South don’t like whole-wheat biscuits and students in New Mexico don’t like whole-wheat tortillas, Concannon said recipes can be adjusted and that perhaps corn tortillas “might offer a better solution.”
Although food processing companies have opposed some of the changes, he noted that “they are going to cooperate to the demands over time” and offer new products.
Concannon noted that the “smart snacks” rule, which says schools cannot sell items in vending machines that are not as healthy as those sold in their meals, will go into effect next month. While more than 30 million children eat school meals, that rule will affect those who don’t.
Concannon said there is no question the Obama administration, including First Lady Michelle Obama, will continue to fight the waivers this year and permanent changes if they are proposed next year.
Improving school meals and the American people’s nutritional habits is vital for avoiding preventable health problems, helping people maintain quality of life, and keeping down the costs of Medicare and Medicaid Concannon said.
“The stakes are really high for the future of the country,” he said. “It is a battle worth waging.”
“It is a serious mistake by the current leadership at SNA” to ask Congress to require USDA to grant a one-year waiver from the requirements to any school that says it has been losing money in its meals program for six months, Concannon said, adding that he is “afraid that some of the folks in the Congress who are willing to do so” are not committed to making sure the changes will benefit children.
The House Appropriations Committee last week passed a fiscal year 2015 Agriculture appropriations bill with a provision that would require USDA to grant the waivers. The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed a bill with minor changes to the programs. Both bills are expected to move to the floors of their respective chambers this summer.
Of the likelihood that SNA, which represents school meal preparers, will seek permanent changes to the rule in 2015 during the reauthorization of the child nutrition programs, Concannon said that would be “playing with fire.”
Noting that SNA represents only 55,000 of the 300,000 people who work in school meals programs, Concannon said he considers it “very unfortunate” to have “one association” calling for the waiver and changes when no other health or dietetics association has asked for them. SNA, he said, is “isolated” on the issue.
Janey Thornton, the deputy undersecretary who is in charge of the school meals programs, offered to hold a conference call with the SNA leadership to discuss the situation but SNA turned down the offer, Concannon said. Thornton, he noted, is a former school food service director in Kentucky and a former SNA president.
“We are, over and above everything else, saying stay the course,” Concannon said, on implementing the school meals rules under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. “The act is working,” he added. “We are in the middle of an obesity epidemic in the United States.”
Concannon acknowledged that some schools are having a “bigger, steeper climb” than those that started changing their meals before the 2010 act required them to reduce sugar, fat and salt and serve low-fat dairy and meat products, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables.
But he pointed out that as problems “have been brought to our attention,” USDA has either waived certain requirements or slowed down their implementation.
SNA has said that plate waste has increased, but Concannon said that children taking food they don’t eat always been a problem with school meals, and that he believes a Harvard study that showed it has not increased.
Of SNA’s request that USDA end the requirement that students be required to take fruits and vegetables at each meal, Concannon said he has seen children putting these on their plates on his trips around the country, and that if they are not “routinely” exposed to fruits and vegetables, they won’t eat them.
Of statements that some school food service workers themselves don’t like the new foods, Concannon said that “it is fair to say” that the eating habits of many school food service workers “reflect the eating patterns of the rest of the country.”
“We eat too much processed foods and consume too many calories. That contributes to obesity.”
Concannon noted that he has seen “some really creative” food service directors around the country. In a Cambridge, Mass. school, he said, the school food service director, who is from Haiti, puts fruits and vegetables at the front of the line.
“It looked to me like a mini Whole Foods in terms of the piles of tangerines and pears,” he said. “We all eat with our eyes, it has to be attractive.”
Concannon also rejects the idea that the new school meal rules come from government “bureaucracy.” The new rules, he noted, are based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine.
“These are people grounded in what we should be eating,” he said.
Of complaints last week on an SNA call with school food service directors that students in the South don’t like whole-wheat biscuits and students in New Mexico don’t like whole-wheat tortillas, Concannon said recipes can be adjusted and that perhaps corn tortillas “might offer a better solution.”
Although food processing companies have opposed some of the changes, he noted that “they are going to cooperate to the demands over time” and offer new products.
Concannon noted that the “smart snacks” rule, which says schools cannot sell items in vending machines that are not as healthy as those sold in their meals, will go into effect next month. While more than 30 million children eat school meals, that rule will affect those who don’t.
Concannon said there is no question the Obama administration, including First Lady Michelle Obama, will continue to fight the waivers this year and permanent changes if they are proposed next year.
Improving school meals and the American people’s nutritional habits is vital for avoiding preventable health problems, helping people maintain quality of life, and keeping down the costs of Medicare and Medicaid Concannon said.
“The stakes are really high for the future of the country,” he said. “It is a battle worth waging.”
