Sunflower seed butter and jelly. A hummus and cracker spread. Roasted chicken and hearty dumplings.
No, this is not the menu at a Michelin-rated restaurant in Manhattan. It’s just a short list of some NYC public school lunches prepared daily throughout more than 1,870 public schools, all designed to give kids nutritious and delicious food for thought, NYC Department of Education (DOE) officials say.
Rachel Atcheson, deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, said school lunches have become healthier over time, particularly with 2022’s launch of Plant-Powered Fridays, a lunch program that features plant-based foods made from scratch.
“The focus on scratch-cooked plant-based dishes has introduced more whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, which are packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber,” Atcheson said. “Further, the Office of Food and Nutrition Services has taken bold steps to remove processed meats from the menu, which reduces students’ exposure to unhealthy additives and preservatives and lowers saturated fat intake.”
She added that Plant-Powered Fridays has a fun taste-testing aspect to it.
“Each menu item is carefully created, crafted and student taste tested before being served to NYC Public School students,” Atcheson said.
The top 5 NYC public school lunches
So, with so many options during lunchtime, what do kids enjoy the most? Here’s what the DOE said are the top five lunches at schools throughout the city, in no particular order:
Bean taco
Plain Pizza
Roasted chicken
Chicken dumplings
Sweet-and-sour chicken bites
But what are kids and parents saying?
For the most part, kids give their seal of approval on the top five list.
“My son, a kindergartener, loves pizza Mondays, chicken tenders and their cheese sandwiches,” Jen, a NYC mom of a public school student, said.
Zara Zuckerman, a mom on the Upper West Side whose son attends a public elementary school, said there’s one item on the list that her son particularly enjoys.
“My son loves the dumplings,” she said enthusiastically. “He just thinks they’re delicious. They’ve actually inspired him to be a more adventurous eater.”
Tara Marenda, a mom and former Staten Island resident, was a professional lunch lady in the NYC public system for 23 years before she moved to Tom’s River, N.J., four years ago.
“I can tell you right off the bat what kids in NYC love,” she said. “They always loved the pizza and the chicken nuggets. And for the snacks, it’s ice cream. But now in New York they have this healthy stuff that none of the kids like.”
Other New Yorkers and parents agreed, saying it’s good to have healthy lunches, but they should taste good.
“They don’t have any of the food like we had years ago,” Susan Montalbano-Rivera of Staten Island, said. “It’s terrible.”
“Food is different now,” New Yorker Lisa Hentze said.
