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Food service manager speaks at D.C. event

BOARDMAN — Just before the order to stay at home was given, Boardman food service Supervisor Natalie Winkle made the trip to Washington, D.C., for the School Nutrition Association Legislative Action Conference.

Winkle serves as president of the Northeast Ohio Cafeteria Workers Local Chapter 78. The chapter includes 150 cafeteria workers and food service directors from the region.

“I was a part of an Ohio delegation that represented northeast Ohio,” Winkle said. “The need to make sure kids are getting the best food possible had us meeting on how to implement a summer meal program, which Boardman is going to do this year for the first time. We also discussed how to attract employees who want to work in the school food service environment. We are constantly looking for staff.”

Among the speakers at the conference was Sonny Purdue, the U.S. Department of Agriculture secretary of agriculture, who spoke to the 900 in attendance about the work food service employees in the schools are doing and the benefits they bring.

“He called us the people on the front lines when it comes to the kids,” Winkle said. “I really think Mr. Purdue understands what we do is not just food on a plate. It is watching out for the kids who need extra help, kids that are sad and need a smile, that is what we do. Food is secondary. Kindness and care is definitely a priority when it comes to our kids.”

Another part of the conference had the food service representatives meeting with legislators to bring up concerns. Winkle said one concern is the number of children on reduced meal programs, where kids only pay a small portion of for their food. In many cases the charges are not getting paid. She said most favored getting rid of the reduced part and making those meals free.

Another concern brought up with legislators involved the enormous amount of paperwork placed on food service directors.

“We explained with so much paperwork and so much time being spent … we do not have the opportunity to do the fun things with the kids like taste testing, like guest servers, like creating new menu ideas and more,” she said.

“I am hopeful that the people making the decisions on how the nutrition departments in school systems work will think about what we talked about and see that the most important thing we can do is feed our kids, just help us do that.”

Winkle said the coronavirus was discussed at the conference and the lawmakers in D.C. were not permitted to shake hands. As the week long conference continued, the pandemic was getting worse.

“Just like here, things changed daily,” she said. “All in all, Sonny Perdue told us he would do whatever he could to help make sure the kids got fed during this pandemic. He has helped allow us to go into summer lunch mode now so we can feed the kids.”

She said in the summer lunch program, any child ages 1 to 18 is able to come for food, so siblings of the enrolled children can also get food.

“This is a big deal,” Winkle said. “We have given out a lot of meals in the last few weeks, so this change helped greatly.”

news@tribtoday.com

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