White House prepares for Kids’ State Dinner as SNA convention proceeds without Kass
July 15, 2014 | 06:47 PM
With First Lady Michelle Obama's Kids' State Dinner scheduled for Friday, the White House has released a blog post about its preparations.
The dinner, which is actually a luncheon, is attended by children from each of the states and territories who have submitted winning recipes in a contest to come up with healthier school meals. Some of the students' recipes are featured, and the blog post tells how the recipes were chosen.
Meanwhile, an Obama administration official has told The Hagstrom Report that the School Nutrition Association turned down an offer made by Sam Kass, the executive director of the first lady’s Let’s Move campaign against childhood obesity and White House nutrition adviser, to speak at its conference this week in Boston.
Kass, who has spoken to the group before, sent a message through the Agriculture Department that he wanted to thank the school nutrition directors for implementing the healthier school meals rules, but SNA responded that their members were not in the mood to hear “a positive message” from the White House, the official said.
Kass, a trained chef who has cooked for the Obama family for years, attended a meeting at USDA last week at which SNA officials and 15 other groups with an interest in the healthier meals rules met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
SNA has asked for waivers from the rules for certain schools and that some regulations be pulled back permanently.
Janey Thornton, the USDA deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services in charge of school meals, is still scheduled to attend the SNA conference.
▪ Let’s Move — The Countdown Begins to This Year’s Kids’ State Dinner
The dinner, which is actually a luncheon, is attended by children from each of the states and territories who have submitted winning recipes in a contest to come up with healthier school meals. Some of the students' recipes are featured, and the blog post tells how the recipes were chosen.
Meanwhile, an Obama administration official has told The Hagstrom Report that the School Nutrition Association turned down an offer made by Sam Kass, the executive director of the first lady’s Let’s Move campaign against childhood obesity and White House nutrition adviser, to speak at its conference this week in Boston.
Kass, who has spoken to the group before, sent a message through the Agriculture Department that he wanted to thank the school nutrition directors for implementing the healthier school meals rules, but SNA responded that their members were not in the mood to hear “a positive message” from the White House, the official said.
Kass, a trained chef who has cooked for the Obama family for years, attended a meeting at USDA last week at which SNA officials and 15 other groups with an interest in the healthier meals rules met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
SNA has asked for waivers from the rules for certain schools and that some regulations be pulled back permanently.
Janey Thornton, the USDA deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services in charge of school meals, is still scheduled to attend the SNA conference.
▪ Let’s Move — The Countdown Begins to This Year’s Kids’ State Dinner
