WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2013 – USDA today proposed the
establishment of minimum national professional standards and training
requirements for school nutrition professionals who manage and operate the
National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.
The standards, a provision of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids
Act of 2010 (HHFKA), aim to institute education and certification standards for
school nutrition professionals, USDA says. These new standards will ensure that
school nutrition personnel have the training and tools they need to plan,
prepare and purchase healthy products to create nutritious, safe and enjoyable
school meals.
According to Janey Thornton, USDA deputy under secretary for
food, nutrition and consumer services, HHFKA requires schools to prepare
healthier meals for 32 million children each day.
Roughly 90 percent of schools are reporting that they are
meeting the new standards, a 12 percent increase from June 2013, USDA says.
Some, but not all, of school nutrition professionals currently
complete annual training.
The proposal would:
- Create minimum hiring standards for school food authority directors based on a school district’s size;
- Establish minimum hiring standards for state directors of school nutrition and state distributing agencies; and
- Require minimum annual training for all new and current school nutrition professionals.
For more on the proposal, click here.
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