We need your comments! SNA’s Ad Hoc Working Group is developing “New Meal Pattern Guidelines: A Companion Guide…”
Posted: June 14, 2012
Dear Industry Members –
SNA strives to keep you aware—and necessarily involved—in the Association’s response to ongoing issues and concerns. But we need your help.
It’s clear that we are in the midst of what promises to be a challenging time for those of us who serve the K-12 school market and our school nutrition director customers and partners across America.
To determine the best course of action to meet the varying challenges of the new meal pattern regulation, SNA is in the process of gathering input. We need industry to speak out and share your feedback about both ongoing concerns andsuggested strategies and solutions that can help all of us—industry and operators alike—meet our goals and our bottom line. I invite you to click here to offer your thoughtful reflections.
Your comments will be provided to SNA’s Ad Hoc Working Group, which is developing the New Meal Pattern Guidelines: A Companion Guide. This Guide will feature sample menus and other important resources for both school nutrition directors and industry members. In addition, SNA has and will continue to share stakeholder comments with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials and will do all that it can to provide assistance to the Association’s membership in the most timely and appropriate fashion.
In addition to the Guide, SNA will highlight the new meal patterns at the Annual National Conference (ANC) in Denver next month and will share information through four “hot topic” education/roundtable sessions. These sessions will be hosted by members of the Ad Hoc Working Group and will include state agency staff, school nutrition directors, industry members and USDA representatives. These forums will provide Q&A opportunities and the more participation we have, the more productive these information exchange activities will be. Pass the word along to colleagues, customers and other friends in school nutrition; we need everyone’s input!
Finally, in following through with SNA leadership’s pledge to provide on-going transparency, I have provided a link to the minutes from the last SNA Board of Directors meeting, held in April during the National Leadership Conference in Louisville. These minutes will offer additional insight on the state of the Association, as well as its priorities and projects and the processes for decision-making.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments onany topic, so that I can best serve you as Industry Representative on the SNA Board of Directors.
Gary Vonck,
SNA Industry Representative
Published in – Industry Insider: News from SchoolNutrition.org Vol. 10, No. 6 – Jun. 14, 2012
About the Author:
Gary Vonck
VP - Education Division
Gary Vonck has been with KeyImpact since 2007, adding to an impressive 40-year foodservice career. His knowledge and passion for child nutrition are unsurpassed. Gary oversees the Education Division, which includes sales, bid, and commodity teams across the entire nation.
Gary is an active member of the SNA and was the first and only broker/agency representative on the School Nutrition Association’s Industry Advisory Board, as the appointed Industry Representative, in 2008 and again 2014. Gary has also served on numerous SNA Task Forces and co-chaired several SNA events. Gary was also on the NSFMI national advisory council. In January 2013, Gary was awarded the Silver Friend of Child Nutrition FAME Award.
Gary Vonck is based in Illinois and can be reached at gvonck@kisales.com.