In This Issue:

November 2016

President’s Message

National Nibbles

MDE Update

Conference Corner

What’s Happening?

Meet the Board!

President - Julie Powers, RD, SNSStillwater Area Schools

If you could eat your favorite food right now, what would it be?My mother’s homemade lasagna!

President Elect - Wendy Knight, RD, SNSRosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan ISD

If you could eat your favorite food right now, what would it be?German dish…Can’t even spell it! Boiled noodle dough with fresh strawberries inside, placed in a shallow dish with some butter and cream. Yum!

Vice President - Amy TheringAnoka ISD

What’s your favorite thing to do in the summer?I can’t remember, it is fall now! My favorite summer activity is sitting by the lake, (hometown White Bear Lake would be first choice but any lake works!) sipping a cold beverage and talking to

friends, maybe even a bonfire by the lake.

Secretary/Finance Chair - Jo Lange, SNSRed Lake ISD

What is your favorite thing to do in the summer?Sleep in past 5am!

Education Chair - Emily MalonePrior Lake/Savage ISD

What book, movie or video have you seen/read recently you would recommend? Why?The Kitchen House. I love historical fiction!

Industry Chair - Wendy Wojtysiak-EricksonUpper Lakes Foods

What book, movie or video have you seen/read recently you would recommend? Why?What about Bob? It is an old movie with Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. I LOVE this movie. It makes me laugh no matter what.

The 2016-2017 Executive Board was installed at the 60th Annual State Conference in St. Cloud, August 1st. Each board member was able to choose from 10 different questions to answer so we all could get to know a bit about them.

Julie Powers, RD, SNSMSNA President

Welcome to another school year! After our 60th Annual State Conference where we celebrated “60 Years of Leadership”, MSNA has already had some wonderful opportunities to showcase our member’s leadership ability!

The 2016 Nutrition Conference in Eden Prairie was a big success with fantastic speakers and great attendance by our members. I applaud the Nutrition Conference Committee for all of their hard work.

National School Lunch Week was celebrated and MSNA got some serious “screen time” with FOUR television spots, three in the Twin Cities and one in Duluth. We had awesome leaders step up to help out. This is a wonderful change from a few years ago when we were the subject of negative press. Now the media is approaching MSNA as THE school nutrition professionals. Just what we wanted to accomplish!! What a great turnaround and many thanks to our Public Relations firm and our Marketing Committee!

Education of our members continues to be the main focus for MSNA. Discussions are held at each board meeting of how to offer more and interesting new opportunities to members. How can we get the most for dollars spent and when and where should we be offering classes? Are there areas where we can collaborate with other groups in the state to offer even more opportunities? As this dialogue continues through my presidency, I hope we can find new and innovative ways to continue to grow leaders for MSNA.

President’s Message

2 | MSNA Thymes

Board Briefs

2016-2018 MSNA Strategic Goals

Approved items from October 5, 2016 Actions: To work on the development of members for the new Leadership Development Committee. Immediate Past President, Laura Metzger will chair this committee.

To work with Executive Board to develop a Skills Camp Task force for future education opportunities.

PPL committee will work on developing School Nutrition Program infographics to distribute to MN Legislators.

Motions: That MN recognize the Institute of Child Nutrition curriculum of Nutrition 101 as the core course for the SNA certificate program. The curriculum of NBBGT will be sunset as of November 1st.

To add $4000.00 to the budget to allow for one Executive Board member and one administrative level MSNA member/leader to attend the 2017 SNIC conference in Orlando, FL. Budget Projected Income: $414,800.00Budget Projected Expenses: $444,791.00Budget Net Income: $-29,991.00

To approve the revised 2017 draft budget as amended by previous motion. To have the Vice President Position as the board member for the SNIC National Conference.

To accept Kristen Rezac as the 2017 Annual conference Co-Chair and 2018 Annual Conference Chair.

To raise the annual conference registration fee $10.00 starting with the 2017 state conference in Duluth

1. Professional Development School Nutrition Professionals will have the necessary knowledge, skills and expertise to administer, manage and deliver healthy school meal programs.

2. Advocacy & Public ImageMN School Nutrition Policy Makers, school officials, and parents will rely on

SNA/MSNA as the authority and voice for child nutrition for designing and funding school meal programs.

3. CommunityMSNA will be strengthened through collaboration with members, state affiliates, industry and allied partners.

4. InfrastructureMSNA will have a governance structure that is aligned with the strategic plan and reflects contemporary business practices

Meet the Board, con’t

November 2016 | 3

Member Services Chair - Bobbi Varichak, SNSMounds View ISD

What book, movie or video have you seen/read recently you would recommend? Why?“Star Trek - Beyond” Even if you are not a Trekkie, Treker or Sci-Fi buff the movie theme is one that we can hold near and dear too - We are NOT weak but we are Stronger Together with our knowledge and compassion for one another. This theme is direct

and to the point for anyone of us today. It strikes a huge cord within myself. As a mother, leader, supervisor and friend; I do my best to help everyone I come in connect with on a daily basis. As a mother, I ask advice from other parents. As a leader or supervisor if I am unsure of an issue, I will go to someone with more experience in the field and then get back to the person. If I am your friend, I am here to lean on in good times or bad times. We are stronger together - We need one another!

State Agency Representative - Deb Lukkonen, RD, SNSMN Department of Education

If you could learn a new skill, what would that be?Sky diving is on my bucket list. But none of my family members want to take lessons with me. I’ll have to go alone and they can take pictures from the ground!

Nutrition Chair - Spencer Fischer, SNSEastern Carver County ISD

Public Policy Chair - Noah Atlas, SNSAnoka ISD

Are you looking for CEU’s and Training Hours? You can find many education courses offered online at ICN support the professional development and training of child nutrition program personnel at all levels of responsibility. The ICN’s online course system supports the research-based competencies, knowledge, and skills needed for excellence in child nutrition program management. All classes are noted with a USDA Code/Key Area so you are able to determine the session designation. Visit www.theicn.org for more details.

ICN online training provides self-paced online courses that may be completed over multiple sessions. Once a course has been completed, a certificate of completion is provided and may be used to satisfy certain certification and credentialing requirements. Additional-ly, ICN online courses are offered free of charge.

You are able to achieve the SNA Level One Initial Certificate by taking the core courses of Serving it Safe & Nutrition 101! Once you have completed these two core courses you are able to

fill out the Certificate Application and send in with your documentation and application fee! You can find more SNA certificate information on the SNA website www.schoolnutrition.org and click on the Education & Development tab.

ICN’s Online Training

Meet the Board, con’t

November 2016 | 3

Member Services Chair - Bobbi Varichak, SNSMounds View ISD

What book, movie or video have you seen/read recently you would recommend? Why?“Star Trek - Beyond” Even if you are not a Trekkie, Treker or Sci-Fi buff the movie theme is one that we can hold near and dear too - We are NOT weak but we are Stronger Together with our knowledge and compassion for one another. This theme is direct

and to the point for anyone of us today. It strikes a huge cord within myself. As a mother, leader, supervisor and friend; I do my best to help everyone I come in connect with on a daily basis. As a mother, I ask advice from other parents. As a leader or supervisor if I am unsure of an issue, I will go to someone with more experience in the field and then get back to the person. If I am your friend, I am here to lean on in good times or bad times. We are stronger together - We need one another!

State Agency Representative - Deb Lukkonen, RD, SNSMN Department of Education

If you could learn a new skill, what would that be?Sky diving is on my bucket list. But none of my family members want to take lessons with me. I’ll have to go alone and they can take pictures from the ground!

Nutrition Chair - Spencer Fischer, SNSEastern Carver County ISD

Public Policy Chair - Noah Atlas, SNSAnoka ISD

Are you looking for CEU’s and Training Hours? You can find many education courses offered online at ICN support the professional development and training of child nutrition program personnel at all levels of responsibility. The ICN’s online course system supports the research-based competencies, knowledge, and skills needed for excellence in child nutrition program management. All classes are noted with a USDA Code/Key Area so you are able to determine the session designation. Visit www.theicn.org for more details.

ICN online training provides self-paced online courses that may be completed over multiple sessions. Once a course has been completed, a certificate of completion is provided and may be used to satisfy certain certification and credentialing requirements. Additional-ly, ICN online courses are offered free of charge.

You are able to achieve the SNA Level One Initial Certificate by taking the core courses of Serving it Safe & Nutrition 101! Once you have completed these two core courses you are able to

fill out the Certificate Application and send in with your documentation and application fee! You can find more SNA certificate information on the SNA website www.schoolnutrition.org and click on the Education & Development tab.

ICN’s Online Training

National NibblesHelp Us, Help You - Update Your Contact Information with SNA!Making sure that SNA has your correct mailing address, email address, and phone number will help you get the most out of your membership. This will ensure that you receive your membership and/or certificate renewals, School Nutrition magazine and the latest news and updates from SNA!

Staying in touch with SNA can be easy! Go to www.schoolnutrition.org and click on the red Login to My Account button in the upper right-hand corner. Enter your user name and password to login or click Member Registration to create an account. Once logged in, click on the Member Record tab and select Member Contact Information. Update any needed information and click Save Changes. Need help? Contact the SNA Service Center at (800) 877-8822 or servicecenter@schoolnutrition.org for assistance.

SNA Unveils New PR Campaign Celebrating School Nutrition ProfessionalsSNA launched a new PR campaign that celebrates hard-working school nutrition professionals who are dedicated to serving healthy meals to over 30 million kids each day. The campaign has many tools which you can download and share to help spread the word about the work SNA is doing. Elements include customizable breakfast and lunch flyers, sharable content for social media and a short video. For more information about the campaign and to download the tools, visit www.schoonutrition.org/PRcam-paign.

National Member Dues Increase Effective October 1, 2016Recently, the SNA Board of Directors approved a national member dues increase, which will go into effect on October 1, 2016. As part of the governance changes passed by the SNA Delegate Assembly in 2015, national member dues increases are now approved by the SNA Board of Directors and may occur if needed every other year (only in even years),

with a maximum of a 10% increase.

This dues increase will allow SNA to provide and sustain enhanced member benefits, support important advocacy efforts such as #StoptheBlock, and help cover the general increased costs of doing business. In the coming months, SNA members can look forward to additional professional development opportunities including more FREE webinars to help earn CEUS and meet USDA Professional Standards training requirements. Dues will increase as follows:

• Affiliate Employee/Affiliate Retired: From $16 to $17• Employee/Student/ Retired: From $30 to $33• Manager: From $32 to $35• Director/Major City Director/ Educator/State Agency/Other: From $110 to $120

Thank you for your membership and we urge you to take advantage of the many benefits and services it provides. If you have questions, please email membership@schoolnutrition.org.

Let’s Recruit and Win! Join the 2016 Back to School Membership Drive Our state association is participating in this year’s Back to School Membership Drive, and we could win big! This drive began on September 1, 2016 and will end on November 30, 2016. Our state association could win a free registration to National Leadership Conference 2016 in Baltimore so, help us recruit more members.

You could be a winner, too! Recruit five or more new members between June 1, 2016 and May 31, 2017 and you will be automatically entered into a drawing to win 1 of 5 VIP registrations to SNA’s 2018 Annual National Conference (ANC) in Las Vegas, Nevada.*. Let’s recruit and win together! Visit www.schoolnutrition.org/recruit for more information and complete rules.*VOID WHERE RESTRICTED OR PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Registration Now Open for SNIC 2017! Join us on January 22-24, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency in sunny Orlando, FL for the School Nutrition Industry Conference (SNIC). Register here and pay the early bird rate until November 11th. The theme this year is innovation, and the schedule promises to deliver!

The action starts a day early on Saturday, January 21st. We will feature 4 bonus sessions, with a session on Ethics, Breakfast in the Classroom Innovations, CN Labeling, and a USDA foods taste test at a local high school. Plan to arrive early-you won’t want to miss out on a chance to attend one of these sessions! The conference will kick off on Sunday with the opening general session featuring Kai Kight, an innovator and violinist (and one of the top speakers of 2015). Three other general sessions will feature Dr. Jim Painter, Cindy Long from USDA, and Chef Sharon Schaefer. The rest of the conference is filled with dynamic learning labs on topics on supper, leadership, ethics, and innovative ways to increase participation. To see the full line-up, click here.

Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this dynamic conference. We promise that by the end of SNIC 2017 you will have new tools to foster innovation in your district!

Attend SNA’s LAC 2017 with SNF ScholarshipWould you like to attend SNA’s Legislative Action Conference (LAC) in Washington, DC on April 2-4, 2017 to learn from Washington insiders and join the annual Charge to the Hill? The School Nutrition Foundation is now accepting applications for the Josephine Martin National Policy Fellow from September 15-November 15, 2016! The Fellow will get to attend

4 | MSNA Thymes(continued on page 6)

Unpaid Meal Debt and Meal Charge PoliciesThis fall, USDA provide guidance to school food authorities (SFAs) on two different but related topics: unpaid meal debt and meal charge policies. It’s important that all food service staff are aware of the definition and components of meal debt and charge policies, yet still understand how the two are related.

Unpaid Meal DebtUSDA has identified two types of student meal debt – Delinquent and Uncollectible. Unpaid or “delinquent” meal debt is debt that has been accrued by the household/student but hasn’t yet been paid. This debt is usually still collectable. However, at some point, the debt can become “uncollectible.”

Delinquent DebtIn their guidance, USDA states that the methods of collecting delinquent debt can be determined by the “Local Education Authority” (LEA), but must focus on parents/guardians not students. The collection method that the LEA will take must be clearly communicated to households and must be written in a district meal charge policy (see article below).

Efforts to collect delinquent debt are allowable costs to the school food service account. Schools set their own collection procedures and a reasonable timeline for collection of delinquent debt. Collection of delinquent debt may continue into the following school year if the debt is still collectible. However delinquent debt must be reclassified as “bad debt” when further collection efforts are useless or too costly.

Bad DebtThere is not a state definition of when a debt become uncollectible, however USDA gives the school district or LEA the right to identify when a debt become uncollectible. “Bad debt”

is defined by local policies as “uncollectable,” and the debt is then written off as an operating loss.

It is critical to understand that bad debts and any related collection costs of bad debt are not allowable costs to the non-profit food service account. The cost of the bad debt must also be restored to the non-profit food service account using non-federal funds, such as the general fund or any other non-federal funds that are available for this purpose.

Debt Collection ResourcesUSDA also issued a recent memo on Unpaid Meal Charges: Guidance and Q&As that address delinquent and bad debt. The memo can be downloaded from http://www.fns.usda.gov/unpaid-meal-charges-guidance-and-qasUSDA has issued a best practices handbook, “Overcoming the Unpaid Meal Challenge: Proven strategies from Our Nation’s Schools. The handbook is based on USDA’s discussions across the country with school nutrition directors and staff, principals and superintendents. The handbook can be downloaded from: http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/cn/unpaidmealcharges_guide.pdf

Meal Charge PolicyBeginning July 1, 2017, all SFAs must have a written and clearly communicated meal charge policy and distribute the policy to households at the start of each school year. A policy may allow students to charge meals, offer alternate meals, impose limits on charges, or allow neither meal charges nor offer alternate meals. The specific policy is at the discretion of each school food authority and must include information about how bad debt will be collected. It is important that all staff who would be responsible for enforcement, including food service staff, office/administrative staff, principals, social workers, homeless liaison, etc. be aware of the school/district policy.

In 2014, the Minnesota Legislature passed legislation that addressed school meal payment reminders.

Specifically, the statute reads, “The [school food authority] must also ensure that any reminders for payment of outstanding student meal balances do not demean or stigmatize any child participating in the school lunch program.” The governor and Legislature were clear that collecting and asking for meal payments should be done in a respectful manner. In addition, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) stated that districts are in the best position to understand their school community’s attitudes, beliefs and cultural sensitivities on methods of reminding and collecting payments. What may work for one district’s community may not work for another. However, at no time should a meal policy target or shame students for financial considerations beyond their control. Districts should exhaust all options to ensure students are not denied a nutritious meal.

When notifying households of the meal charge and collection policy, include multiple methods to distribution the information. Some options may be to include it on the school/district website, in the student/parent handbook, use the Use back-to school free/reduced-price meal application procedure to inform families.

Please be sure to bring this issue/equirement up with your district administration. School board action may be needed to develop or revise a meal charge/collection policy. Local education authorities must fully comply with the requirements of the final rule by June 30, 2017.

Charge Policy ResourcesThis USDA memo provides links to helpful resources that schools can use when creating a meal charge policy. http://www.fns.usda.gov/unpaid-meal-charges-local-meal-charge-policies.The Minnesota Department of Educa-tion – Food and Nutrition Service web-site has a link to resources that offers options to address delinquent debt and charge policies at: http://educa-tion.state.mn.us/MDE/dse/FNS/SNP/mgmt/price/

MDE Update

November 2016 | 5

National Nibbles, con’t

6 | MSNA Thymes

LAC with expenses up to $3,000 paid and be recognized at the event.

To apply, you must:• Be an active SNA employee or manager section member, who has been a SNA member for at least three years, as of LAC 2017 (since no later than April 1, 2014)• Have never previously attended LAC • Be interested in child nutrition policy

Director-level members are not eligible for this fellowship. For questions, please contact scholarships@school-nutrition.org or (800) 877-8822.

SNA 2017-18 National Committee OpeningsInterested in serving on a SNA National Committee? Serving on a SNA national committee offers exciting opportunities to grow professionally, develop new skills, work on issues from a national perspective and make a contribution to the school nutrition profession.

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) has six committees to which members are appointed to serve: Membership, Nutrition & Research, Political Action Committee, Professional Development, Public Policy and Legislation and Resolutions and Bylaws. This is an opportunity to play an active role in shaping the future of school nutrition programs. There are 23 open committee positions for 2017-18. Each committee is charged by the Board of Directors to complete work assigned by the President, based on the Association’s Strategic Plan. To see the open positions and download the committee interest form, please visit: https://schoolnutrition.org/AboutSNA/Leader-shipOpp/.

Please return the committee interest form by December 15, 2016. For questions, please contact Deborah Van Balen, Executive Assistant, at dvanbalen@schoolnutr i t ion.org, or (800) 877-8822, ext. 114.

SNF ScholarshipsDo you want to pursue a degree to take your school nutrition career to the next level? Have you always wanted to attend a national school nutrition conference? Could your school kitch-en use an upgrade in equipment? Scholarships and grants are available through the School Nutrition Foundation for active SNA members. For over 30 years, the School Nutrition Foundation (SNF) has been raising funds to provide scholarships to SNA members. Donate to the SNF Annual Fund to help SNA members achieve their educational dreams! Visit For questions, please contact scholarships@schoolnutrition.org or (800) 877-8822.

Annual Fund 2016The 2016 Annual Fund has started strong and with less than 100 days left in the year, now is the time to make your online contribution! The theme for this year’s campaign is, “Lighting the Way,” as the Annual Fund lights the way to education and professional development, research to validate best practices, and scholarships for members to continue their education.

State IncentiveThe state affiliates are hard at work to meet the goals required to get dollars back for scholarships for members in their respective states. Here’s an update on their progress:

• States with 1-500 members: West Virginia has surpassed the 3% mark with 3.7%. South Dakota is approaching the mark with 2.3% to date.• States with 501-1,000+ members: Illinois leads all states with 5.8% and New York has topped 3% with 3.4% participation.• States with 1,000+ members: This division has higher totals to reach these benchmarks but are continu-ing to make progress.

In addition to reaching the percent-age participation goals, the states also need to meet minimum dollar goals to receive dollars back. The dollar amounts vary according to the size of the state affiliate. To make a contribution

through your state’s fundraising page, or to see who in your state has already contributed, visit the SNA website.

Giving Tuesday 2016Get ready for Giving Tuesday on November 29, 2016! Consider getting SNA members and others in your state involved. Encourage them to post “UNselfies” and to spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. Visit the https://schoolnutrition.org/snf/ and click on Giving Tuesday for more ideas!

Challenge for Giving TuesdayTo encourage participation on Giving Tuesday, AccuTemp and its employees will donate $20 for every new donor who makes a contribution on Giving Tuesday. If you have not made a contribution in 2014 or 2015, and make a contribution of $10 or more on Giving Tuesday, November 29, your gift will mean an additional $20 for the Founda-tion. To make a gift online, visit https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/SNF.

Never miss an SNA Webinar again!We appreciate that your time is valuable and that sometimes SNA’s webinar schedule does not fit yours. That’s why the Webinars OnDemand are an important SNA resource!

With over 35 webinars in all Key Areas, Webinars On-Demand provides the training/CEUs that you need, when you need them. You will need to log in to your account to access these webinars. https://schoolnutrition.org/Webinar/on-demand/

Save the Date: Virtual Expo on January 31, 2017SNA’s first ever virtual expo launches on January 31, 2017. This free virtual expo will be accessible to attendees from January 31,2017-April 30, 2017. The first three days of the expo, Jan. 31- February 2 will be “live days” where exhibitors are able to answer questions in real time through the live chat feature.

Free registration opens November 15. Be on the lookout for the registration link on the SNA website and other communication outlets.

The Owatonna FS Staff participated in the school’s Homecoming parade, which has been a “tradition” for having a float in the parade. With it being an election year, their float was red, white and blue and adorned with ballots where the check mark was on school meals! Great way to promote their Nutrition Program! Vote School Lunch!

Guatemalan ConnectionOn Friday, September 16th, MSNA had the honor to present to the Guatemalan Fellows from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finances supported through the Cochran Fellowship Program’s Latin America Training.

Presenting on behalf of MSNA was Roxann Roushar, Eden Prairie Schools, Annette Derouin, Willmar/New London-Spicer/Montevideo Schools, Spencer Fischer, Eastern Carver County Schools and the Farm2School State Leadership Team.

With the help of the U of M Extension and translators, presentations were conducted at the Good Acres Food Hub in St. Paul. The goal of the visit from the Guatemalan Fellows is to understand how the school lunch programs work. They visited rural and urban schools to see successful implementation of school meals, school gardens and farm to school programs.

SNA & MSNA Awards

November 2016 | 7

SNA & MSNA celebrates members who work every day to ensure well- nourished students across the country are prepared for success. Take the time to nominate an employee, manager, and/or director you know to be recognized for all of their great contributions! Minnesota has had two national Manager of the Year awardee’s in 2015 & 2016!

Nominations are now being accepted for the SNA 2016-17 awards. You can find these awards by visiting www.schoolnutrition.org and clicking

on the membership tab.

Nominations are welcome for: SNA Employee of the YearSNA Manager of the Year-In Honor of Louise SubletteSNA Director of the YearMSNA Innovation AwardMSNA E Team Award

All MSNA award forms can be found on the MSNA website http://www.mnsna.org/for-you/awards

Note: MSNA has aligned the MSNA award due dates to the National Award due dates of March 1, 2017.

All SNA Award nomination forms are to be sent to the SNA offices. All MSNA awards are to be sent to the MSNA offices. Any questions contact the MSNA office at 877-251-2344 or minnsna@gmail.com

Celebrating NSLW

Students from St. John’s School in Foley were just some of the kids who participated in the Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch in October.

Annual Conference60 Years of Leadership

MSNA members celebrated the 60th anniversary of MSNA during the state conference held at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud. Over 935 attendees were present and attended the various workshops centered on the USDA Professional Standards. To help celebrate, past state presidents were invited to attend the banquet dinner and were celebrated with at the awards presentation. Conference Chairs Carrie Frank and Kathy Burrill want to give out “ A big round of thanks to all of our conference sponsors and the volunteers who helped make the 60th anniversary conference a conference to remember!” All the attendees at the Monday night banquet received a complementary tray donated by The Yes Group and Carlisle Company! Our opening keynote speaker Tami Evans was very inspiring and motivating and our closing session speaker Joanne Robinett spoke on education being the source to help inspire and motivate us.

The workshop committee did a great job arranging the variety of workshops for the attendees. Their goal is to provide education that all members can use.

One attendee said that this MSNA conference was her favorite! “The conference was well organized, the speakers were heartfelt and funny, workshops were very informative. I truly enjoyed myself with my coworkers and learned so much more on my profession of nutrition! Thank you Conference Planners-Great Job!!”

Conference by the Numbers935 Attendees151 First Timers16 “Instant” Level One Certificate ParticipantsEducation Raffle-$4641.00161 Vendor Booths2534 lbs. of food donated to Catholic CharitiesService Project-Baby Shower6380 wipes, 1774 diapers and $3700 worth of items

The 2017 Conference Chairs, Kathy Burrill and Kristen Rezac are starting the preparations for the 61st Annual Conference to be held in Duluth, July 31st-August 2, 2017. Note the hotel block will open in March of 2017. More 2017 conference information will be in the January Thymes.

Nutrition ConferenceRoots of NutritionOn a beautiful fall Saturday, over 230 attendees enjoyed a great day of networking, great speakers and good food attending the MSNA Nutrition conference, held at the Eden Prairie High School, October 15th. The attendees were able to earn 4 CEU’s for USDA professional hours and SNA certificate & renewal.

Chef Jenny Breen spoke on the topic of why REAL food is critical for health and how to engage kids in school. Beth Dooley, presented on how the vegetable garden is the best classroom and how it allows kids to learn “hands on” nutrition. She noted “healthy is always in season!”

Susan Moores, Nutritionist with Kowalski’s Markets, spoke about how to make nutrition interesting and fun, not dull with new approaches for getting the kids to eat well.

The closing session was a Farm2School panel sharing how they have implemented F2S. Panel members were Barb Harrison, Eden Prairie ISD, Barbara Griffiths, Rosemount/Apple Valley/Eagan ISD, Tonya Christianson & Kerry Crawford, Hopkins ISD and Cricket Davis, Russ

Davis Wholesale.

Conference Chair, Mary Ann Dammann, KeyImpact Sales, was very happy with the outcome of the conference. She said she had a “great team” to work with and could not have done it without them! Committee Members: Jackie Brown, Orono ISD, Rebekah DeJarlais, US Foods, Spencer Fischer, Eastern Carver County ISD, Kim Franta, New Prague ISD, Bridget Lehn, White Bear Lake ISD, Dawn Urban, Food Marketing Services. A big thank you also to the staff of Eden Prairie High School!

MSNA would like to thank all the sponsors for their generous support, donations and resources. Advance Pierre, Bergin Fruit & Nut Company, Bix Produce, Citrus Systems, Cut Fruit Express, Dumas Apple House, Food Marketing Services, General Mills, Glenview Farms, InHarvest, KaKookies, KeyImpact Sales & Service, Muffin Town, Notables, Sunny Fresh, Premium Waters, US Foods.

Midwest Regional LeadershipSNA Iowa is hosting the 3rd annual Midwest Leadership seminar on November 11 & 12th in Des Moines. Liz McLaughlin from Arrowhead Chapter 15 and Kathryn Hanson, River Valley Chapter 35 will attend the seminar made possible with Education Raffle scholarships. This seminar will be on developing leadership skills, network with other states and gather information.

Certificate Program UpdatesImportant changes are being made to core courses available for level one certificate!

As of November 1st, “Nutrition Building Blocks for Great Trays” will no longer be accepted as a core course for the initial level one SNA certificate. The related curriculum has not and will not be updated by the University of Minnesota. The online course will be discontinued.

Conference Corner

8 | MSNA Thymes

Conference Corner, con’t

November 2016 | 9

In its place, MSNA will be using Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) course “Nutrition 101” on www.theicn.org as the SNA core course for the initial level one certificate.

In-person (face to face) training for the “Nutrition 101” course is approved for 8 hours and online training is approved for 10 hour course. Additionally, the MSNA Trainer Network will be discontinued as of November 1st.

More education and certificate opportunities will be added moving forward in 2017.

Programs in the NewsMSNA has hired CJ Public Relations (CJPR) to help promote the organization and its members as leading resources on child nutrition programs. The agency has a long history of building awareness of the nutrition value of school meal programs and has coordinated positive stories throughout the state of MN.CJPR supports proactive TV, newspaper and online news outreach and handles inquiries for MSNA and its members, working closely with the Executive Board and Marketing Committee on all aspects of media and promotional opportunities to showcase great examples in the state.

Additionally, the agency provides communications strategy and helps handle reactive or crisis communications scenarios, tapping in and customizing national association materials and tools as needed.

The agency has provided education sessions for MSNA Annual Conference and Chapter Leadership seminars and is available to support member programs. Contact the MSNA Executive Director for more details on how CJPR can support your program.

Public Policy UpdateAs Congress breaks to allow lawmakers to return home for final campaign events, Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) remains an unchecked box on the legislative to-do list. It’s too early to tell whether a lame-duck Congress will finish the task after the election and before the end of 2016, or whether they will leave it for the new 115th Congress to take up in January. To help SNA members and other school nutrition advocates prepare to educate new and returning members about top priorities, SNA’s legislative team has compiled the following look back at what happened, what didn’t and SNA’s ongoing role. You can read the full update in SNA’s news story, on the

SNA website under the news tab.This year is a budget year meaning that the Minnesota Legislature will be working on their two-year spending plans and bills. The Minnesota Legislature will begin their budget year session in January. As always the PPL committee will be working hard to find the best ways to communicate our MSNA platform and concerns to our local, state and national representatives. The MSNA Legislative Conference will be held February 28, 2017. If you have attended in the past it would be great to have your support again. If you are nervous about talking to, or

meeting with a legislator, don’t be. There is plenty of support from your fellow MSNA members and any one of us would be happy to go to a meeting with you. Your state representatives want to hear from you, and this is a great chance to spend some time with your fellow MSNA members, and voice your concerns about child nutrition personally.

If you can attend, the SNA National Legislative Conference is being held in Washington D.C. April 2-4th. See the National Nibbles to find out how you could win a free trip to LAC!

Just a few snapshots from this year’s Nutrition Conference!

Conference Corner, con’tJust a few snapshots from this year’s Annual Conference! The rest can be found on Flickr at https://flic.kr/s/aHskHrus5k

What’s Happening?Calendar of EventsJanuary 4, 2017MSNA Executive Board MeetingNotables

January 22-24, 2017SNA Industry Conference (SNIC)Orlando, Florida

February, 14, 2017SNDM Commodity Food ExpoRiver’s Edge Convention CenterSt. Cloud, MN

February 28, 2017MSNA Legislative ConferenceSt. Paul, MN

March 6-10, 2017National School Breakfast Week

April 2-4, 2017LACWashington DC

May 4-6, 2017National Leadership ConferenceBaltimore, MN

May 11-12, 2017 Industry Conference Breezy Point, MN

May 17, 2017MSNA Executive Board MeetingNotables

MSNA Newsletter UpdateThe MSNA Thymes will be going electronic starting with the 2017 January Edition! A poll taken at the annual conference asked the members if they would prefer their Thymes mailed or delivered electronically. By an over-whelming margin of 95% polled voted to have the newsletter sent electronically to save on postage costs. There will be no printed version. The Thymes will be sent out via email and will be located on the MSNA Website.

Online Job Postings To post jobs to the MSNA website send all pertinent job information to: minnsna@gmail.com

Questions? Call Sharon Maus, MSNA Executive Director at 877-251-2344

30 million school meals are served every day. And for some, those are the most nutritious meals they’ll eat. That inspired us to offer six delicious all natural sliced turkey deli meat varieties. Mix and match your varieties (turkey breast, ham, pastrami, salami, bologna, pepperoni) as any six slices will provide a 2 oz. M/MA serving, with 460 mg of sodium or less. Making it easy to do what’s right – while kids love every bite. That’s the JENNIE-O® brand.

©2016 Jennie-O Turkey Store, LLC

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Food Marketing Services MinnesotaDawn Urban(952) 854-1545durban@fmserv.com

Food Marketing Services MinnesotaMarybeth Sachs(952) 854-1545msachs@fmserv.com

November 2016

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