Community & Wraparound Programs

PODCAST: Food fight — the battle for better school lunches

By 
Tovi Tankoano, The Bell
 | September 1, 2023, 2:48pm UTC
An elementary school student reaches for an apple on a school lunch line.
A NYC student explores the quality of school food on this episode of the Miseducation podcast from the Bell, a New York City high school audio journalism program. (Courtesy of North Penn School District)

This originally aired on The Bell’s Miseducation podcast on June 13.

In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act. It aimed to “provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day.” More than 60 years later, Michelle Obama championed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which required schools to provide students with healthier lunches. Since 2017, New York City has provided free breakfast and lunch to all public school students.

These acts and reforms are great; they seek to ensure that all students receive nutritional meals at school. But in practice, let’s just say the results are… mixed.

Students sit and eat in the cafeteria every day, and yet conversations about education often leave out this crucial element of our daily lives as students.

In this episode I document the quality of school lunches through the perspective of those who eat them: students. I also chat with one of my teachers, who used to help develop school lunch menus and guided me in my search for answers about how lunchtime can be improved.

Get ready listeners, because we’re about to have a food fight!

Tovi Tankoano reported this story for the Bell’s Miseducation podcast as a sophomore at Marble Hill School for International Studies in the Bronx.

The Latest
The Supreme Court gave the go-ahead to massive layoffs at the Education Department

In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the decision ‘indefensible.’ Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said the job cuts are a first step toward eliminating the department, although a legal challenge to the layoffs can continue in the lower courts.

By 
Erica Meltzer
 | July 14
After years operating on an expired charter, Philadelphia’s Memphis Street Academy ordered to close

Despite the judge’s ruling, officials at American Paradigm Schools charter network, which operates Memphis Street Academy, say they expect to continue to operate the school this fall.

By 
Rebecca Redelmeier
 | July 14
What should it take to earn a NY diploma? Goodbye, Regents exams. Hello, ‘portrait of a graduate.’

Students will be expected to demonstrate that they are global citizens and critical thinkers to graduate. How they will be assessed remains an open question.

By 
Alex Zimmerman
 | July 14
AmeriCorps supporters notch another court victory, but its work in education remains disrupted

A federal district court judge ordered the restoration of some AmeriCorps staff and funding on July 7. But the group’s work could still be significantly disrupted for some time due to the Trump administration’s attempts to cut its spending.

By 
Norah Rami
 | July 14
The Trump administration froze nearly $7 billion in education funds. Now states are suing.

The withheld funds pay for after-school programming, teacher training, and support for English learners. Trump administration officials said the funds are under review due to suspicion they have been ‘grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda.’

By 
Erica Meltzer
 | July 14
Republican state lawmakers continue push to take over Memphis-Shelby County Schools

Republican Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor said the pending $6 million independent financial audit of MSCS will inform their next moves. Both introduced bills to create state-controlled boards in charge of the district that failed this spring.

By 
Bri Hatch
 | July 14