Administration Professional Pathways
Executive Update
Legislators Can Help Us Feed Our Kids
We all know, only too well, how challenging the last two years have been, and how much support we have needed to stay in operation. During the pandemic, Congress passed special child nutrition waivers, which provided schools with greater flexibility in meal preparation and meal service. The waivers also reduced the paperwork we had to do to distribute meals to millions of students. What would we have done without this assistance? In my case, my team kept the nutrition program for the second largest secondary school district in California, up and running. Despite serious supply and staffing shortages, we managed to serve 8.74 million meals to our students during this demanding time. And I know we are not an isolated case. However, we couldn’t have done it as well if we hadn’t had the back-up of state and national government measures. For instance, last year the California legislature passed the “Healthy School Meals for All” legislation. Because of this Act, the state will begin to cover the cost of two nutritious meals each day, for all children, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. So, just as every child receives a textbook, each student will receive meals, as Custom well. The goals of this legislation are twofold: to reduce hunger in the state, and to remove the stigma some students suffer when accessing free or subsidized meals. My dream is that this becomes a national initiative. Our children deserve it.
product availability. For example, in our district, spicy chicken patties are a staple, and a student favorite. However, we couldn’t get enough product to meet our needs due to a spice shortage, and a shortfall in chicken because of the bird flu. And despite “returning to normal,” there are still serious grain shortages in the global supply chain. That means a key compo- nent of our meal pattern is costing us much more. In addition, our industry partners are dealing with labor and supply short- ages, too, from which they haven’t yet fully recovered. We have learned that difficult times call for creative solutions. In my district, we have purchased truckloads of food to ensure we have ample supplies for our meal program. We have contracted with local cold storage facilities to hold our product. However, it is only with government support and understand- ing that we can continue to provide healthy, nutritious meals to our students. We’re glad to know that the Senate passed the “Keep Kids Fed Act,” which extends free meals for kids during summer school, and waives the cost for reduced-price students in the upcoming school year. But meal pattern flexibility is essential, and must remain in place. I’m excited to know that the current federal administration will be sponsoring a conference this fall to address the subject of school nutrition. I hope our leaders will attend in solidarity. And I’m glad that groups like the National Farm to School Network are encouraging inclusivity when it comes to shaping the future of school meals. If we want to move forward, we must do it together, and join forces to feed our students. What better way is there to unify people than to have them “sit around the table together.” That means foodservice professionals, industry partners, and legisla- tive experts must all work together to ensure there is a reliable infrastructure, and an adequate food supply, for everyone. Our kids’ future, and ours, depends on it.
Why School Foodser- vice Needs Government Support
By Eric Span, Director of
Nutrition Services, Sweetwater Union High School District, Chula Vista, CA
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[ Note: A version of this article was first published as an Op-Ed column in The San Diego Union-Tribune , on June 27, 2022]
The Challenges We Continue to Face During the pandemic, we worked hard to secure enough food to feed our students, and that problem remains as we move into the 2022-2023 school year. With disrupted supply chains, we are still facing price spikes and product gaps. During the past two years, we all have seen unprecedented fluctuations in
Eric Span has been the Director of Nutrition Services for Sweetwater Union High School District, for the past 10 years. Collectively, he has over 30 years experience in foodservice: 17 of those in school nutrition. He is the Public Policy and Legislative Committee Chair for the State of California, and is the newest member of the Carroll Services Editorial Advisory Board.
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