Former USDA child nutrition director resigns from SNA over lobbying effort
June 16, 2014 | 03:48 PM
Stan Garnett, a former director of child nutrition at the Agriculture Department, has resigned from the School Nutrition Association over its efforts to encourage members to lobby Congress to pass a bill requiring the USDA to waive healthier school meal requirements to any school that says it has lost money in the program for six months.
On June 10, SNA sent its members an email alert that they should “take action” on the waiver provision in the fiscal year 2015 Agriculture appropriations bill by either writing or calling Congress and telling a congressional aide to “urge your member to speak out on the House floor in defense of the waiver that would allow struggling schools a temporary reprieve.”
On June 13, Garnett, who spent 35 years in the Food and Nutrition Service at USDA and served as director of supplemental food programs and director of the child nutrition division before his retirement in 2007, sent SNA CEO Patti Montague an email resigning from the organization.
The Hagstrom Report obtained copies of the SNA email blast and the correspondence between Garnett and Montague.
Stan Garnett
“I was very much offended by the personalized e-blast I received this week from the School Nutrition Association asking me to lobby my congressional delegation to vote for a waiver provision of the new nutritional standards for the school meals programs,” Garnett wrote.
“As you know, I have been involved with these programs for many years and worked closely with SNA and other advocacy groups to expand and improve the programs. I felt we were always guided by the words in the Declaration of Policy in the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, "TO SAFEGUARD THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF THE NATION'S CHILDREN.”
“SNA’s current position goes against that policy,” he wrote. “I can no longer be associated with an organization that advocates for such a change and hereby cancel my membership in SNA.”
Patricia Montague
Montague responded the same day, saying “I’m sorry to receive your email. You and I — and our members — share the goals of improving the health and well-being of children across the country and giving students the nourishment they need to succeed in the classroom.”
“But our members are also struggling with the hard realities of cost and budget shortfalls as a result of these requirements and the fact that so many students are deciding not to take school lunches,” Montague said.
“We are hopeful that that we can find a solution working with the administration and Congress that allows school cafeterias to continue serving healthy school meals without pulling resources from schools' instructional budgets. Thank you for your service and I hope that we will be able to work together in the future.”
▪ School Nutrition Association — Call Congress Email
On June 10, SNA sent its members an email alert that they should “take action” on the waiver provision in the fiscal year 2015 Agriculture appropriations bill by either writing or calling Congress and telling a congressional aide to “urge your member to speak out on the House floor in defense of the waiver that would allow struggling schools a temporary reprieve.”
On June 13, Garnett, who spent 35 years in the Food and Nutrition Service at USDA and served as director of supplemental food programs and director of the child nutrition division before his retirement in 2007, sent SNA CEO Patti Montague an email resigning from the organization.
The Hagstrom Report obtained copies of the SNA email blast and the correspondence between Garnett and Montague.
“I was very much offended by the personalized e-blast I received this week from the School Nutrition Association asking me to lobby my congressional delegation to vote for a waiver provision of the new nutritional standards for the school meals programs,” Garnett wrote.
“As you know, I have been involved with these programs for many years and worked closely with SNA and other advocacy groups to expand and improve the programs. I felt we were always guided by the words in the Declaration of Policy in the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, "TO SAFEGUARD THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF THE NATION'S CHILDREN.”
“SNA’s current position goes against that policy,” he wrote. “I can no longer be associated with an organization that advocates for such a change and hereby cancel my membership in SNA.”
Montague responded the same day, saying “I’m sorry to receive your email. You and I — and our members — share the goals of improving the health and well-being of children across the country and giving students the nourishment they need to succeed in the classroom.”
“But our members are also struggling with the hard realities of cost and budget shortfalls as a result of these requirements and the fact that so many students are deciding not to take school lunches,” Montague said.
“We are hopeful that that we can find a solution working with the administration and Congress that allows school cafeterias to continue serving healthy school meals without pulling resources from schools' instructional budgets. Thank you for your service and I hope that we will be able to work together in the future.”
▪ School Nutrition Association — Call Congress Email
