ALBEMARLE OBSERVER
Kimberly Cullipher, Director of School Nutrition, Perquimans County Schools is headed to Capitol Hill to participate in School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) annual Legislative Action Conference (LAC), March 8-11.
Cullipher will join 850 school nutrition professionals from across the country in urging Congress to increase funds for school meal programs, protect and expand student access to free meals and address unpaid school meal debt.
“I am participating in LAC to urge our legislators to ensure all students are nourished and ready to learn,” said Kimberly. “Perquimans County’s nutrition program is critical to our children’s health and academic success. School meal programs nationwide face persistently high costs and insufficient federal funding. We need Congress’ support to ensure the sustainability of these critical programs and to protect student access to healthy school meals.”
SNA’s SY 2024/25 School Nutrition Trends Survey found virtually all (97.9%) responding school meal program directors are challenged by food costs and 92.1% are concerned about their program’s financial sustainability three years from now.
LAC will allow Cullipher and other attendees to meet with their Members of Congress to discuss these issues and share SNA’s 2025 Position Paper. The Paper urges Congress to increase federal school meal reimbursements by 40 cents per lunch and 15 cents per breakfast. Additionally, the Paper calls on Congress to protect the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), expand access to free school meals for all students and address unpaid meal debt.
Attendees are urging Congress to reject a proposal that would cut over 24,000 schools from CEP, which allows schools in high-poverty communities to offer free meals to all students. The proposal would also require income documentation from all families applying for free or reduced price school meals.
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