A New Future for School Food
Cafeterias will never be the same — and that’s a good thing
What will fall look like for New York City’s 1.1 million public school children? Blended learning? Staggered schedules? Rotating days? While not much is certain, this much is: Crowded, raucous cafeterias are a thing of the past. Our children, for now at least, will no longer be bundled together at tables, eating, chatting, shouting, and laughing during their lunch periods. Instead, meals will happen in socially distanced classrooms and all communal food services — think salad bars and fruit bowls — will be eliminated.
These school food changes are obviously essential to our children’s safety and health, but they cannot be seen as a reason to stop serving our kids the nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables their bodies need. This coming September offers New York City’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services (OFNS) a unique opportunity to implement massive changes: to introduce culturally relevant scratch-cooked meals and remove sugary beverages from the lunch line — and serve as an example to be emulated by school districts across the country. It could not happen at a more critical time.
Nearly one-third of children and youth in the state of New York are obese or overweight, and childhood obesity has tripled over the past three decades. In New York…
