K12
K-12 operators share their best practices when operating a feeding site during a disaster Advice from the frontlines: Operators located in the gulf states shared firsthand experience and tips for operating emergency feeding sites during a panel at the School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) 2025 Annual National Conference (ANC) held this week in San Antonio.
By Benita Gingerella
W hen disaster strikes, school nutrition teams are often the ones on the frontlines feeding those in the community. During a panel at the School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) 2025 Annual National Conference (ANC) held this week in San Antonio, school nutrition industry members from the gulf states shared their experiences with feeding during emergencies as well as some best practices on how to best handle emergency situations. Here are their tips. 1. BE PREPARED WITH A PLAN BEFORE THE DISASTER Mary Harryman, food service director at Pasadena Independent School District in Texas recommends making sure districts have an up-to-date emergency plan. At Pasadena ISD, each employee has a red folder that contains written protocol for different types of emergencies school nutrition teams could face, including kitchen fires, power grid failures, hurricanes and more. “When everything’s going crazy and everything’s an emergency and everything’s terrible, you have written procedures, so that’s been helpful for us,” she said. In addition, the folder contains phone numbers of the team, so if their phone dies and they can’t access their address book, they can still call to check in with their coworkers.
says Susan D’Amico, executive director for child nutrition services at Aldine In- dependent School District in Texas. D’Amico was able to get reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after Hurricane Ike knocked the power out in her district and caused food to spoil. “Make sure you have a good invento- ry system, because you will need it,” she said. “FEMA will make you produce the invoice, both from when the food came in, and the invoice from when you re- placed it.” 4. CONSIDER SIGNING UP FOR INVENTORY INSURANCE In addition, Dr. Dodson recommends that operators look at purchasing insur- ance for their inventory which can offer better compensation without breaking the bank “When I was a local director, we add- ed that as a contingency to our district plan, and it was very inexpensive,” she said.
2. BE IN CONTACT WITH YOUR STATE AGENCY AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS Relying on community members is essential during an emergency, the panelists said. One partnership in particular that nutrition operators should not overlook said Dr. Linette Dodson, state Director of School Nutrition for the Georgia Department of Education, is their partnership with their state education department. State departments have resources that could help during emergencies, she said, and are communicating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on what schools are closed, what schools are serving meals, and more. “That’s the sort of information that drives, ultimately, a presidential declaration of emergency happening,” she added. 3. KEEP TABS ON YOUR INVENTORY School nutrition operators should make a point to “write down everything” when it comes to their food inventory
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PHOTO: BENITA GINGERELLA
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