Administration Professional Pathways
Executive Update
How to Protect Your Program’s Funding
Turning Advocacy into Success
Three minute read
In Brief: School nutrition funding cuts threaten programs nationwide. As a foodservice director, your advocacy is vital to protect your program, and ensure serving nutritious meals to students. Use these tactics to mobilize your supporters to help.
The Urgent Need for Advocacy The proposed congressional appropria- tions bill for FY25-26 threatens significant funding cuts to school nutrition programs nationwide. These cuts would not only jeopardize the operational viability of your program but would create a devastat- ing ripple effect across the entire school nutrition ecosystem. School foodservice directors, are in a critical position to lead advocacy efforts to protect this essential infrastructure. What’s Really at Stake The potential funding cuts imperil: • Your program’s financial sustainability and ability to provide quality nutrition • Jobs within your operation from management to service staff • Supply chain partnerships with local farmers, distributors, and manufacturers • Administrative infrastructure that supports efficient meal service • Equipment maintenance and replace- ment cycles essential for food safety • Professional development opportunities for your staff
Your Leadership Role is Critical As a director, you possess unique opera- tional insights, community connections, and professional credibility that position you as the most effective advocate for protecting your program. Your voice— backed by concrete data about economic impact, employment figures, and commu- nity benefits—carries substantial weight with decision-makers. Recruit Your Supporters to Help • Parents • Students • Suppliers including: brokers, distributors, manufacturers and farmers • Other directors at the local, state and national level • National, state and local marketing, trade and professional organizations Use These Tactics 1. Develop a fact sheet to include: • Background: the Child Nutrition Program started as a matter of national security. During WWII, many young men were too undernourished to recruit. Asdditionally, farmers were struggling financially as surpluses lowered the money they were
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