Photo Courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
The report highlights the importance of food education in building lifelong healthy habits, and helping students become better learners, Mayor Adams noted.
By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Department of Education (DOE) Chancellor David Banks, and Mayor’s Office of Food Policy (MOFP) Executive Director Kate MacKenzie on Tuesday unveiled “Prioritizing Food Education in Our Public Schools: A Path to Developing a Healthy Next Generation” — a comprehensive roadmap to improving food education in the City’s public school system. The report identifies specific goals, strategies, and key performance indicators that will ensure students across the city learn healthy eating habits, and how each component of our food system interacts with the climate, economy, and local community.
The report highlights the importance of food education in building lifelong healthy habits, and helping students become better learners, Adams noted. Healthy eating habits are associated with a myriad of health benefits and reduce the risk of developing chronic diet-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. They are also associated with higher cognitive functioning, reduced absenteeism, improved mood, and stronger academic performance, Hizzoner added.
The report identifies three goals for improving food education across all public schools in the five boroughs:
- Helping students build knowledge about healthy eating and wellness;
- Providing greater access to healthy, nutritious, and culturally appropriate meals in schools; and
- Empowering members of school communities, including parents, educators, food service workers, and administrators, to be wellness ambassadors.
The report outlines nine strategies to achieve these goals, as well as 30 key performance indicators to track ongoing progress. These strategies include developing a “Food Education Guidebook” to inform principal decisions on programming, expanding alternative meal options, including halal kitchens, prioritizing capital improvements to school kitchens and cafeterias, and more.
“Eating healthy foods and getting proper nutrition is essential to improving a student’s academic performance, leading to fewer absences, increasing thinking skills and bettering behavior,” said State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Woodhaven). “It’s important that we implement these healthy eating habits early so they can become a lifestyle that continues into adulthood.”
Adams also noted that in the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Executive Budget, he proposed $50 million in funding to expand the Cafeteria Enhancement Experience, “transforming more than 80 school cafeterias into warm and welcoming spaces for students to enjoy nutritious meals,” he said. Further, in the FY24 Executive Budget, Adams proposed $5.5 million for culinary training for school food service workers, as well as $1 million in funding to integrate food education into school curriculums through core courses, hands-on learning, and afterschool programming.
“I commend Mayor Adams on the release of this invaluable report that will help the people of our city eat better and live healthier lives,” said Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar (D-Woodhaven). “The mayor already introduced plant-based food to our cafeterias, hospitals, and public consciousness. Today’s report on prioritizing food education takes the next step by helping our schools implement and promote the plant-based diet. It is well-established that a healthy, plant-based diet reverses and prevents diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and heart disease. It is time to bring these benefits to our children. Like the mayor, I have adopted the plant-based diet myself and am proud to be a partner at the state level where I have introduced legislation to bring plant-based options to public schools statewide.”
