Advocating for the continuation of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which provides free meals to Summit Academy students and others across the country, SAM Food Services Director Gina Nash recently joined colleagues nationwide in Washington, D.C. At the School Nutrition Association’s annual Legislative Action Conference, March 9-11, Nash and fellow food service directors and industry representatives met with elected state representatives and members of congress who are critical to maintaining CEP. The group also addressed issues pertaining to unpaid
school meal debt and proposed increased meal reimbursement rates due to rising food costs.
Nash and her colleagues from Ohio met with representatives from the offices of Congressman Michael Rulli, Congressman David Taylor and Congressman Max Miller. The group also met with Congresswoman Emilia Sykes who invited them into her office to hear their positions on school meal security. “Congresswoman Sykes was gracious enough to spend about 20 minutes listening to our concerns and requests,” Nash says.
The issues addressed by some 850 school nutrition professionals across the country are detailed in the SNA’s “2025 Position Paper.” The end goal is to ensure the financial stability of the federally supported
National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.
“Everyone who met with us and listened to our concerns regarding the ‘2025 Position Paper’ for school nutrition was supportive, positive and willing to do what they could to help us achieve our goals. These three days in Washington, D.C. advocating for our nation’s students and their need for nutritious free meals were invigorating, inspiring and humbling,” Nash says. “I couldn’t be more grateful and proud to be able to advocate not just for our students at Summit Academy, but for all students everywhere. If we don’t speak up for them, who will? They are our future.”