Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Sam Kass, the White House nutrition adviser and executive director of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let's Move campaign against childhood obesity, are scheduled to meet with school meals advocates Thursday, but the School Nutrition Association won’t send its top leadership to that event.

The SNA, which represents school food service directors and companies that make school meals, requested the meeting, but also said they hoped the first lady would be present so they could discuss the challenges they face with her directly.

SNA says its board and executive team will be meeting that day in advance of the organization’s annual meeting, which will be held in Boston July 13 to 16, an SNA spokeswoman said.

SNA will be represented at the Vilsack-Kass meeting by Wendy Weyer, who chairs the group’s Policy and Legislation Committee, the spokeswoman said.

“SNA’s letter to Secretary Vilsack and the first lady requested a face-to-face meeting with SNA’s board — school meal program operators from around the country — to discuss challenges with implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and the July 1, 2014 implementation deadlines,” the spokeswoman added. “We hope for a response to our June 19th letter.”

Vilsack and Kass have invited a wide range of other groups to attend the meeting, many of which support the administration’s healthier meals rules.

These are the groups that have been invited:

• School Nutrition Association
• National School Boards Association
• National Education Association
• Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• National Food Service Management Institute
• Pew Charitable Trusts
• Center for Science in the Public Interest
• National Parent Teacher Organization
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Alliance for a Healthier Generation
• American Heart Association
• United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association
• Mission: Readiness