CNAC Minutes for the October 8, 2025 Meeting
Meeting minutes for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Child Nutrition Advisory Council (CNAC) on October 8, 2025.Council Members
Kim Frinzell – Director Nutrition Services Division (NSD)
Ronald Little – School Administration
Maryam Shayegh – Consultant
Carrie Buck – School Board
Amber Green – Nutrition Education Specialist
Anne Wilson – School Food Services Supervisor
Yaz Widatalla – School Nutrition Services Director
Kayvon Banankhah, Student Representative (new) – will be sworn in in the future – currently as a public member
Guests
Reema El-Murr, Nutrition Education Administrator, CDE
Andrea Bricker, Nutrition Education Consultant, CDE
Nina Ortiz, Office Technician, CDE
Administrative Activities (facilitated by Kim Frinzell)
- Meeting called to order at 9:31 a.m.
- Brief overview of agenda
- Meeting Agenda October 2025: Motion to approve CNAC agenda. Seconded. Agenda approved.
- Previous Meeting Minutes – August 2025: Open to amend. Motion to approve meeting minutes. Seconded. Minutes approved.
- Reminder: Ethics training due by October 30, 2025 (and renewed every 2 years)
Request for public comment:
No public comment.
Agenda Items
Item 1: Chair elections (facilitated by Kim Frinzell)
- Members interested in Chair position noted
- Motion for Carrie Buck to be Chair, seconded, and approved.
Item 2: Nutrition Services Division Director Updates (Kim Frinzell)
- Federal Updates: Government shutdown as of October 1, 2025
- Ultra Processed Foods (UPF) Information:
- Assembly Bill (AB) 1264, Gabriel. Pupil nutrition: restricted school foods and ultraprocessed foods of concern: prohibition chaptered October 8, 2025.
- Response to Governor’s Executive Order N-1-25 submitted by the State Board of Education
- Assembly Bill (AB) 1264, Gabriel. Pupil nutrition: restricted school foods and ultraprocessed foods of concern: prohibition chaptered October 8, 2025.
- National School Lunch Week (NSLW) is October 13-17, 2025
Item 3: 2026 CNAC Priority Areas: UPF and Adequate Time to Eat (ATE) (Kim Frinzell)
- UPF Subcommittee Members: Amber Green, Anne Wilson, Yaz Widatalla
- Subcommittee work will align with AB 1264 and will monitor the additional definitions and guidelines
- Subcommittee focus: Strengthening implementation, identifying ways to support schools and food service departments, including what to focus on to implement immediately with a focus on foods/ingredients
- Subcommittee work will align with AB 1264 and will monitor the additional definitions and guidelines
- ATE Subcommittee Members: Maryam Shayegh, Ronald Little, Carrie Buck
- Fact sheet was reviewed, approved, and posted for use by districts and schools to implement strategies that support ATE
- Recommend Kitchen Infrastructure and Training 2025 application include as a recommendation that future funding could be used for adequate seat time strategies
- Subcommittee focus: Raising and keeping awareness of issue and fact sheet availability, strengthen strategies to enhance effort statewide, and promote strategies to support students arriving to school on time
- Fact sheet was reviewed, approved, and posted for use by districts and schools to implement strategies that support ATE
Break: Lunch
Began – 12:15 p.m.
Back to Order – 1:15 p.m.
Item 3: Review and finalize 2025–26 CNAC priority areas (facilitated by Kim Frinzell)
- ATE
- Draft a survey to engage with LEAs regarding their use of the ATE Fact sheet particularly to identify best practices in using it and addressing any challenge
- Recommend exploring the possibility of updating local school wellness policy template to include the ATE recommendations
- Draft a survey to engage with LEAs regarding their use of the ATE Fact sheet particularly to identify best practices in using it and addressing any challenge
- UPF
- Create a document to share LEAs informing of AB 1264 including a timeline of implementation and with a focus on what schools can do now and in the future. Content may address dyes, guidance for assessment of menus, alternative options, best strategies, etc.
- Create a document to share LEAs informing of AB 1264 including a timeline of implementation and with a focus on what schools can do now and in the future. Content may address dyes, guidance for assessment of menus, alternative options, best strategies, etc.
- Close out
- Keep moving the needle. And thank you all for the work in the subgroups.
Item 4: Next Meeting Agenda topics
- Continue subcommittee workgroups
- University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources UPF study update
- California Department of Public Health to update regarding AB 1264 activities, if available
2026 Meeting dates
- Motion for January, May, October as next 2026 CNAC meeting dates; approve, seconded.
Questions:
None.
Request for Public Comment:
No public comment
Item 5: Next Meeting Date – January tentatively
Request for Public Comment:
No public comment.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 1:49 p.m.
Key Terms and Acronyms:
CNAC – Child Nutrition Advisory Council
AB – Assembly Bill
SB – Senate Bill
UPF – Ultra Processed Foods
CDE – California Dept. of Education
CNP – Child Nutrition Programs
ATE – Adequate Time to Eat
NSD – Nutrition Services Division
USDA – U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
Chair – Chair of the CNAC
VC – Vice chair for the CNAC
Dir – Director
CA – California
NSLW – National School Lunch Week