Crandall continues to confound with his free/reduced meals optional arguments

by David Safier

Rich Crandall's latest argument for his bill making it optional for school districts to participate in the federal free/reduced lunch program: Everyone will continue to participate, so it won't make any difference.

Crandall, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said he hasn't heard from a single district in the state that would actually like to drop the program.

"They're not going to go off now,'' he said.

Don't worry your poor little head about my legislation, Crandall says. It's not going to change anything.

The AP article makes a good catch on Crandall's argument that he won't benefit from the legislation, even though he runs a child nutrition consulting company, because he does no business in Arizona. True, he doesn't do business in AZ now, but he has in the past, something he has never gotten around to mentioning.

Crandall owns a company that works in the school nutrition business, reviewing menus and lunch programs for state governments. Crandall said his company does not currently do any business in Arizona, though his company website shows it has in the past.

Crandall said he will not gain anything if the bill passes.

Here's what Crandall's CN Resouce did for Arizona sometime in the past (the website doesn't say when):

USDA 796-2, Revision 3 Training – When the USDA released its new financial rules for the CACFP, CN Resource was hired to conduct training of state agency personnel and sponsors in several western states including Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Hawaii and California.

[snip]

USDA Provision 2 & 3 Outreach – When the USDA wanted to expand the use of Provision 2 & 3 in the National School Lunch Program, they awarded grants to several states. Two states, Arizona and Oregon, contracted with CNR to visit dozens of potentially eligible school districts and conduct a financial analysis to determine if Provision 2 or 3 would be a good fit for their NSLP.

Hmm. If Crandall's company has worked on school lunch programs in Arizona in the past, what might be the best way to work on them in the future? Maybe he could consult with districts opting out of the federal program, helping them create lunch menus without federal guidance. Is that what he plans/hopes to do? Only Rich Crandall and his closest associates know for sure, and they ain't talkin'.