Annual Meeting
2022 ANCE will be virtual on Friday, March 25th.
Take Action Now!
Updated April 13, 2022
Take Action! Day on the Hill 2022
Universal School Meals in Massachusetts K-12 Schools
Universal School Meals in Massachusetts K-12 Schools
We don't expect our schoolchildren to pay for their bus rides, desks and chairs or the Chromebooks they used for remote learning, so why do we ask them to pay for meals?
Please contact your state senator and state representative and ask them to support free school breakfast and lunch for all K-12 students. This is even more important now, as Congress did not approve continued federal funding to help states pay for the free school meals offered to children during the first two years of the pandemic.
Follow these steps:
1. Look up your state senator and state representative and get their email addresses: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator
2. Click the link to open the template to copy the letter into the body of the emails: Use this template.
3. Copy and paste it into an email to your state senator. Add the senator's name at the top (Dear ___).
4. Copy and paste it into an email to your state representative. Add the representative's name at the top (Dear ___).
5. In the subject line, type: Please support universal school meals! (S.314/H.714)
6. Send your emails!
Extras:
7. Send the Day on the Hill 2022 handout as an attachment to the emails.
8. Follow-up on social media -- FB, Instagram, Twitter, #FeedKidsMA
Want to learn more?
Read an article on the end of federal funding for school meals:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/millions-of-u-s-children-could-face-hunger-as-omnibus-bill-moves-without-school-meal-waivers?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=431cc15f-3f97-462c-b0d8-d50b5b46509c
Learn more about the state bill calling for free school meals:
Senate version (S.314): https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S314
House version (H.714): https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H714
View the Day on the Hill 2022 recording from March 14, 2022:
Click here to watch the Zoom recording.
(1.5 CPEU units are eligible for the live event and the certificate can be downloaded from this link. CPEU credits may only be claimed for live attendance.)
The Academy needs your help with open action alerts:
The Medical Nutrition Therapy Act (S.1536/H.R.3108)
This bill amends the Social Security Act to expand Medicare Part B coverage of outpatient MNT for obesity, prediabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, malnutrition, cancer, celiac disease, eating disorders, HIV/AIDS and any other disease or condition causing unintentional weight loss. It also authorizes nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists and psychologists to refer patients for MNT.
Read the Academy’s issue brief on the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act here:
Action alerts change as the call for advocacy changes. Currently, you can take action to support the following:
- Build Back Better Act
- Medically-Tailored Meals Pilot Program
- Expanding Access to DSMT
- School Foodservice Modernization
- Expanding Access to Eating Disorder MNT
- IBT for Obesity (Treat and Reduce Obesity Act)
Visit the Academy's Action Center to view current action alerts and take action.
Want to learn more about a particular policy issue?
Join an Academy Affinity Group!
Connect with fellow members on top policy priorities and learn how to get involved. Click here to register for monthly meetings and join the COI for each affinity group.
- MNT Expansion - First Tuesday of every month from 3:30-4:30 pm ET
- Nutrition Security - First Wednesday of every month from 4:00-5:00 pm ET
- Maternal Child Health - Second Wednesday of every month from 4:00-5:00 pm ET
- Licensure Initiatives - Third Friday of every month from 4:00-5:00 pm ET
- Health Equity – Fourth Friday of every month from 2:00-3:00 pm ET
For questions about registering, contact govaffairs@eatright.org and cc sconca@live.com.
Want to help MAND contact and connect with our state and federal legislators?
Sign up to be a part of MAND's Grassroots Network!
To help MAND’s Public Policy Panel communicate effectively and advocate successfully for food and nutrition issues important to our profession, we maintain a list of members who would like to be more actively involved with public policy activities.
This “Grassroots Network” of MAND members from across the state is critical to advancing public policies supported by MAND and the Academy. Helping out can be as simple as sending an email or a social media message, as this helps to create and grow relationships with elected officials.
Each registered voter is a constituent of two U.S. senators and one U.S. representative as well as one state senator and one state representative. Our elected officials appreciate hearing directly from their constituents, learning about issues important to them. It is when we educate them on nutrition-related issues and directly ask for their support of a bill or policy item that we can begin to see success in policy areas important to us and our fellow nutrition and dietetics practitioners.
What can you do to get involved and join the Grassroots Network? Visit https://www.sec.state.ma.us/wheredoivotema/bal/myelectioninfo.aspx and enter your home address to see a complete listing of your members of Congress, members of the state legislature and other local offices. Then email Sarah Conca, MAND’s Director of Public Policy at sconca@live.com with the following information:
- Your full name, credentials, home address, ZIP code + 4;
- Preferred email and telephone number;
- Name of your U.S. representative; and
- Names of your MA senator and MA representative.
Thank you for your advocacy!
