School Nutrition Association • May 2022 • The Great Return

Participants returned in person and en masse to the nation’s capital for SNA’s 50th Legislative Action Conference.

Veterans of SNA’s Legislative Action Conference (LAC) will never forget the March 2020 gathering. COVID headlines were picking up in frequency and urgency. Many attendees opted for elbow bumps instead of hugs and handshakes. Meeting rooms buzzed with conversation about how to manage if schools and offices had to close for a few weeks. No one imagined that it would be two years before they would gather again in Washington, D.C.

The in-person return to LAC 2022 was joyful, albeit tinged with concerns about the business at hand, especially once word broke that an extension of child nutrition waivers into SY2022-23 had been blocked by a coalition led by Senator Mitch McConnell. But #LAC22 was the perfect venue for state teams to rally, calling on members in D.C. and at home to rev up their grassroots advocacy.

The program agenda was packed with other timely topics, including an insider’s view of the mid-term election environment from Keynote Speaker Amy Walters; a recorded address by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack; breakout sessions on CEP, building a bipartisan advocacy program and maximizing Hill visits; exchange sessions for industry and state agency representatives; panel discussions on SNA’s 2022 Position Paper, USDA’s transitional rule on nutrition standards and other agency updates, best practices for managing supply chain and labor shortage challenges and predictions for the year ahead; plus a much-needed presentation on maintaining well-being during stressful times. Dinner, drinks and dancing were on tap at the School Nutrition Foundation Together Again Gala to close out official events.

CELEBRATING RESILIENCE!

#LAC22 attendees gathered Monday evening, March 7, to recognize the achievements of school nutrition professionals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and to celebrate being “Together Again.” The Gala event of dinner, drinks and dancing was hosted by the School Nutrition Foundation and made possible thanks to the generosity of several organizations, including Premier sponsors SFSPac and Gold Star Foods. Contributions by participants to the Foundation support its mission to provide scholarships, research and education to school nutrition professionals.