SNA Advocates for Guidance on Coronavirus Emergency Feeding

On Thursday, March 5th, SNA sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture advocating on behalf of members seeking guidance on emergency feeding procedures and additional options to safely serve their students in the event schools close due to Coronavirus. USDA provides guidance on using USDA Food during a pandemic. In addition, eligible School Food Authorities (SFAs) are currently allowed to serve students meals through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) during unanticipated school closures. However, several barriers prevent the effective use of this emergency feeding vehicle in the event of widespread coronavirus-related school closures. In the letter, SNA provides several suggestions for USDA’s consideration while developing a response plan including extending waiver language and program eligibility. Read more details in SNA’s letter.

Due to an abundance of care for our member’s health and safety, SNA will continue to seek the most up-to-date information about the virus. State and local public health departments are now testing and publicly reporting their cases. In the event of a discrepancy between CDC cases and cases reported by state and local public health officials, data reported by states should be considered the most up to date.