Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) and eleven other members of Congress sent a Dear Colleague letter regarding school nutrition staffing to the leadership of the Agriculture Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. Read the full letter here.
The letter makes a case for addressing staffing shortages by citing SNA’s 2024 Trends Report, which found that 90% of school meal programs struggle with staffing issues.
The letter calls for additional funding in the FY25 Agriculture Appropriations bill to support school nutrition programs nationwide:
- $1.1 million for a pilot program to design a Healthy School Food Pathway school food workforce development. The programs will prepare individuals for job opportunities in healthy, scratch-cook school food programs.
- $5 million for the Institute for Child Nutrition for a pilot program to support menu development and chef training programs that will expand access to nutritious, scratch-cooked school meals for students.
- $3 million for evaluations of both pilot programs: $1 million to evaluate the Healthy School Food Pathway and $2 million for the Chefs in the Schools pilot.
Stay tuned, as SNA will continue to monitor updates on FY25 Appropriations and the impact on school nutrition programs.
