Does Rich Crandall have skin in the “No Free School Lunches” game?

by David Safier

Rich Crandall is behind a bill that would allow Arizona schools to say No to the federal government's free and reduced lunch program.

Crandall is also President and CFO of Crandall Corporate Dietitians, which calls itself "the nation's largest provider of dietary consulting and menu services to nursing homes, long-term care facilities, assisted living communities and hospitals across 42 states."

I found out about Crandall's business through a Facebook comment. I think the institutional food connection is worth passing along even though I don't know if he stands to benefit financially from the bill he's pushing.

One line in the Howie Fischer article has Crandall questioning the wisdom of the feds requiring schools to offer fresh fruit at breakfasts. [Note: The Federal Guidelines from January, 2011, I pulled up talk about a rule that "would increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals; reduce the levels of sodium and saturated fat in meals." It doesn't specify fruit or breakfast, so I'm not sure why Crandall focused on those.] Does Crandall see his business expanding to include school meals in the future and feel the guidelines would cause problems? I don't know, but the question is worth asking.