‘Let No Child Go Hungry’ Campaign

Ensuring that all children have adequate nutrition in New York City.

Goals:

• End child hunger by 2015 by providing universal free meals (with no application) to all students regardless of income
• Increase participation in school meals and summer feeding programs
• Improve the nutritional quality of school meals and summer programs
• Expand the “Breakfast in the Classroom” Pilot Program in NYC

The Problem:

More than 400,000 children – one in five New York City children – live in food insecure households, and about 70 percent of students in New York City public schools qualify for free or reduced priced meals. Children with proper nutrition perform well in school, and experience fewer health problems. In the wealthiest nation in the world, children should not go hungry.

Only 32 percent of low-income school children in New York City who receive school lunch also receive school breakfast, which means 68 percent of eligible children are not receiving school breakfasts, despite the fact they are offered free in every school. In the summer, when school is out of session, children who rely on school meals do not always have access to nutritious food.

The Solution:

Provide funding for school meals and expand programs that increase access to school meals: Federally, the Child Nutrition Act (CNR) comes up for reauthorization every five years; it determines funding, programs, and access provisions for school meals, nationally. It’s crucial that CNR be well-funded and include both nutritional improvements and increase access for school meals.

Implement Breakfast in the Classroom in every classroom, in every school: School districts have found that the number of students who eat breakfast at school increases significantly when the breakfasts are served in the classroom (know as “Breakfast in the Classroom”) or handed a breakfast (known as “Grab and Go”) before class. 175 New York City public schools have started serving breakfasts in the classroom, but only 14 schools offer breakfast in every classroom. Teachers have found that students are calmer and perform better when they eat Breakfast in the Classroom. Teachers have also mentioned that once the in-classroom breakfast becomes routine, it only takes 10-15 minutes of classroom time and students are more alert and more on time to class. New York City should expand the Breakfast in the Classroom program to all classrooms in every school.

Policy Victories and Program Accomplishments:

• September 2003: Mayor Bloomberg begins a program to offer free breakfast to all City students, regardless of income. This eliminates the tedious paperwork of breakfast programs.
• Fall 2007: Mayor Bloomberg announces an In-Classroom Breakfast Pilot program in 48 schools.
• 2008: NYCCAH successfully advocated for the creation of a full-time Food Policy Coordinator to oversee the City’s food policy issues
• 2008-2010: NYCCAH is a leading member of the NYC Alliance for CNR, a collaboration of over 75 organizations that organize lobbying visits, events, and actions to ensure a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization.