It’s crispy chicken sandwich day at Iroquois Middle School in Niskayuna, and every student in the cafeteria has a different way to eat it. Some students put pickles on top, others add tomato slices and lettuce from the garnish baskets. Students finish it off with a dollop of honey mustard, a drizzle of barbeque sauce, or a squeeze of ketchup. The sandwiches are served alongside appetizing-looking waffle fries, applesauce, peaches, and roasted broccoli with a light char.
Heather Beck has been a food service helper here for seven years and takes pride in feeding the students. “It feels good to see them get a good, balanced meal,” said Beck, a member of the Niskayuna Employees Association. “I think if you put love into your food, it matters.”
Since the universal meals program went into effect in September, volume at Niskayuna Central School District has skyrocketed, with the number of lunches served increasing from 26,523 at this time last year to 40,686 this year, and breakfasts up from 3,902 to 11,307 — that's an increase of 53 percent and 189 percent respectively.
Those are good numbers, said Ross Tuskey, director of food and nutrition at Niskayuna schools, because they show that the new free breakfast and lunch program is doing more than filling bellies; it’s filling a community need.
“I think a lot of times, food service gets pushed into a corner. It’s seen as not important, but now, with this initiative, it feels like people are finally realizing how important good nutrition is. Food is our fuel,” said Tuskey.
The universal meals initiative finishes the work that was started two years prior when, after years of successful advocacy by NYSUT and others, the USDA expanded the Community Eligibility Provision and provided about 2.3 million students with free meals. The latest state investment of $340 million closes the gap for New York's remaining students, ensuring that all 2.7 million students are provided breakfast and lunch every day.
Niskayuna educators report the universal meals initiative is already paying dividends, and that students are coming to class ready to learn, said Kristopher Yager, president of the Niskayuna Teachers Association and a speech pathologist at Iroquois and Van Antwerp middle schools.
“We have nutrition available now for every student, and that’s important because full bellies make you more receptive to learning. Students are able to focus. They have more energy,” said Yager. “It puts everybody on a level playing field.”
The effort is also making the district more equitable. “The stigma that used to go along with getting breakfast in the morning or buying lunch, that’s just gone now, and I think that can’t be overstated. It’s a wonderful thing,” said Yager.
With the inflation rate increasing since April and consumer prices going up across the board, the program is also saving New York families some crucial cash. The program puts an estimated $165 per month, per child, back into peoples’ pockets; that’s $3,960 annually for a family of four.
Many families across the state are struggling to make ends meet, even in seemingly affluent communities like Clifton Park, where the Shenendehowa Central School District is located.
“People think, ‘Oh, Shen has money;’ but not our building,” said Amy Donohue, a member of the Shenendehowa Teachers Association and second grade teacher at Arongen Elementary School. “Our kids definitely take advantage of the program.”
Donohue estimates that between 50 and 75 percent of her students are now receiving breakfast and lunch because of the universal meals program, and that's making a difference for local families. “That’s a big deal when the cost of everything is going up,” Donohue said. “That means there’s more money for other things.”
The Shenendehowa district is serving more meals across the board, said Shenendehowa TA President Jessica Connelly. “In just the first 15 days of school, lunch rates are up 25 percent, and breakfast has increased by 35 percent compared to last year at the same time,” Connelly said, adding that she expects this trend to continue.
Who else is benefiting? ALICE — that’s Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed New Yorkers who live above the poverty line — $58,000 for a family of four — but still don’t make enough to afford breakfast and lunch every day.
This population is especially common in New York’s more expensive communities, where the cost of living regularly outstrips paychecks, places like Port Washington on Long Island. While an estimated 21 percent of families live below the poverty level in Port Washington, many more are struggling to pay the bills in this high-cost community, said Regina McLean, president of the Port Washington TA. “I’ve lived here for 20 years, and I feel like the middle class has shrunk, because housing prices have gone up so much.”
The universal meals program has gone over well here, McLean said. “Kids are getting bagged breakfast in the morning, and if the weather’s nice, they’ve been sitting outside to eat,” she said. “More kids are getting lunch every day, too. It’s good to see everyone getting the nutrition they need for school.”
Expanding the meal program is also eliminating shame around free meals and breaking down barriers between students, she said.
“There’s no longer a stigma attached to it,” said McLean. “It used to be that lunch was for poor kids, but now it’s for everyone so there’s not those divisions between kids anymore.”
Subsidizing school meal programs has long been painted as a charity hand-out, but research shows that feeding students has long-term economic benefits for communities.
A 2021 Rockefeller Foundation study found that the benefits of free school meal programs outweigh the costs; in fact, the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast program cost $18.7 billion annually but generate at least $39.5 billion in benefits — that's $21 billion in net gains.
While some critics have maligned the effort to give all students free meals, saying that school food quality suffers and service slows when more students are fed, food service directors say it’s the opposite.
“I know a lot of teachers and principals were like, ‘Does this mean we’re going to put out lower quality food?’ The answer is no. When volume goes up, funding goes up and we can provide better meals,” Tuskey said. “It opens up more opportunity and just better food.”
In fact, when all students can eat free, school food departments can use economies of scale to get access to fresher ingredients and adopt innovative models like ‘grab and go’ to speed up service delivery, he said.
At Niskayuna, they have added halal, vegetarian and vegan options to the daily menu, and are looking for ways to do more scratch cooking.
Heela Fakher, a food service helper and member of the Niskayuna EA, helped implement the halal program at Niskayuna and said the new option is making the cafeteria more inclusive and accessible.
“Last year, we had so many kids who had to bring food from home,” Fakher said, “but now with the halal food, they can eat at school like everyone else.”
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