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Food and Nutrition

CDF-NY works to ensure that families have access to and participate in federally funded programs designed to improve their health and nutrition. We monitor these programs, make recommendations to government agencies to improve their operation and help to expand participation by the eligible population.

Important Information About New York State Food and Nutrition Programs

• Food Stamps
  
• Child Nutrition Programs
  
  • School Breakfast
    
  • School Lunch
    
  • Summer Meals
    
  • After-School Food (CACFP - Child and Adult Care Food Program)
    
  • Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)

Food Stamps

The Food Stamp Program is the cornerstone of the Federal food assistance programs. As the nation’s largest nutrition program, the Food Stamp Program is the first line of defense against hunger throughout New York and the country. Currently, over 25 million people receive food stamps throughout the country. In New York State, over 1.7 million people, more than 623,000 of whom are children, receive food stamps. Of the 1.2 million participants, over 1 million live within the five boroughs of New York City.

The program is designed to respond to economic need, granting benefits to households with incomes below 130% of the federal poverty level and whose resources are limited ($2,000 per household, $3000 if someone is elderly and disabled). Work requirements are also a part of the program for individuals without dependants, not disabled and otherwise able to work. Special rules apply to immigrants, students and other groups. Benefits are distributed through an electronic card that may be used at authorized retail food stores and farmers market. The benefit amount is 100% federally funded and administrative costs are divided evenly among federal and state/local government.

Families may apply directly through the local government social services office either by applying for cash assistance, Medicaid and food stamps concurrently using one common application or apply for food stamps alone at a local food stamp-only center using a shortened application form. A third option allows for families to be pre-screened for eligibility and receive application assistance from a local community agency. The application experience varies from project to project. The most comprehensive assistance may include a computerized prescreening, a completed computer generated application, preparation of documents for verification and an appointment for an initial interview at the local government agency.

Child Nutrition Programs

Child nutrition programs do not require citizenship or legal immigration status. All immigrants can participate, regardless of residency status.

School Meals

All children are eligible for school meals. Children from low-income families are entitled to free or "reduced-price" meals, others pay "full price".

Applications for school meals - breakfast and lunch - are distributed at the beginning of each school year. All families are asked to complete the application and return it to their schools, even if their children do not participate. The income information that families submit on the application is used to determine if their schools are eligible for additional federal funds for teachers.

All NYC public schools have a breakfast program that is free to all children, regardless of family income. This "Universal School Breakfast" program began in the 2003-04 school year and is funded primarily through federal funds, supplemented by contributions from the state and city.

The NYC Department of Education promotes school breakfast as part of its campaign to improve children's capacity to learn. Studies have shown that students who eat breakfast do better on tests, have fewer absences and lateness, and are more attentive in class. Since many students do not eat breakfast at home, this program is crucial.

In most schools, breakfast is served in the school cafeteria 30 minutes before the official start of the school day. A few schools serve breakfast in the classroom as a class activity; others provide students with bag breakfasts which they may eat in their classrooms. Universal School Breakfast has helped increase the number of children eating this important meal, but 80% of NYC's public school students still do not participate.

Breakfast Foods

Breakfast consists of 4 food items:

• milk (low-fat, whole, or chocolate);
  
• grain (cereal, muffin, bagel, toast, …);
  
• protein food (egg, sausage…) or another grain item; and
  
• vegetable/fruit (juice, banana…).

Students may refuse any one of the above items, or they may take all four of the offered foods.

School Lunch

All NYC public schools offer lunch to all students. In some schools, all children can get free lunch, regardless of family income, similar to the Universal Breakfast program. The Universal School Lunch program is available primarily in low-income communities.

School lunch participation is about 65% of attending students in NYC. The Department of Education is trying to attract more students by offering a greater variety of foods, new chef recipes, and greater emphasis on nutrition. Most students who participate are eligible for free meals, which contributes to the welfare stigma of the program. Although "full price" students pay only $1.50, much less than comparable meals even from home, many either bring lunch or buy "ala carte" items at school.

One deterrent to school lunch participation is the availability of "competitive foods", items sold in vending machines and through school stores. These are usually snacks and drinks that are high in salt, fat, and sugar - designed to appeal to tastes children have acquired through food industry promotions. Although the sale of competitive foods is restricted by federal and local regulations, there is no enforcement and, as schools are reluctant to give up the money from these sales, they are prevalent throughout the system. Revenue from the sale of competitive foods usually goes to the school administration and helps pay for items that have been cut from school budgets over the years.

All students must be scheduled for a lunch period, as close to the middle of their school day as possible. Unfortunately, lunch is sometimes scheduled at 10 a.m., or 2 p.m., because the cafeteria cannot accommodate enough students and schools may have as many as 4 or 5 lunch periods. Some high schools schedule students for lunch at the beginning or the end of their school day, knowing they will not go to the cafeteria and will therefore skip lunch. (This solves the crowding problem and eases supervision in the cafeteria.) This practice is detrimental to children's health and education and should be challenged.

School Lunch Foods

Students must be offered five food items in each lunch:

• Milk,
• protein (meat, fish, cheese, eggs),
• grain (bread, rice, etc.), and
• 2 foods in the vegetable/fruit category.

Most schools allow students to choose 3 of the 5 food items to reduce plate waste.

Summer Meals

During school vacation, children can get nutritious meals at sites in many communities. The Summer Food Service Program provides reimbursement for meals served to all children under 19. The meals are free to everyone, regardless of family income or residency. The only requirement is the age limit.

In NYC, there are hundreds of "open" sites in public schools that serve breakfast and lunch to all children. Other sites are some city swimming pools, parks, day camps, recreational programs, and housing projects.

Although public school summer meals are similar to breakfast and lunch during the school year, they are much better accepted by children, as the cafeteria environment is relaxed, and is less noisy and crowded.

Participation in the program is far too low. Only 25% of NYC's eligible children get summer lunch. Many families do not know about the program, there is too little publicity, and there are not enough sites and/or sponsors.

Community groups can operate their own summer meals program as sponsors by applying to the State Education Department. There is a maximum reimbursement for meals and administration of the program, which may or may not meet a sponsor's actual costs. Groups can also be sites under the City Department of Education's sponsorship. If they have a large number of children, meals can be delivered to them from a neighborhood school.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) offers reimbursement for meals to groups operating after-school, family and day care, and adult day care programs. There is no charge for the meals to participants, although some of the cost may be included in program fees where they exist.

All after-school programs in NYC public schools can offer snacks and/or suppers free to children under 19, but not all of them participate, possibly because they are unaware of the program and its benefits for their children.

If both a snack and supper are served, there must be 3 hours between servings. Thus a snack can be served at 3 p.m. and supper at 6 p.m.

Community groups may also provide meals to their after-school participants. They must have a license from the NYC Department of Health in order to qualify for CACFP reimbursement.

WIC - Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children

WIC is designed to provide nutritious food supplements and nutrition education to low-income pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding, infants, and children up to the age of five. The program has proven successful in reducing the number of low birth-weight babies and saving Medicaid costs.

WIC provides eligible participants with vouchers for nutritious food items that they redeem at neighborhood retail stores. Foods include infant formula (although WIC encourages breastfeeding as a healthier and more cost-effective option), milk, cheese, eggs, juice, cereal and peanut butter among others.

Eligibility depends on income (up to 185% of the poverty guidelines), and medical or nutritional risk. Applicants can get medical referrals to WIC from their physician or from any one of the 100+ WIC sites in NYC.

WIC Program Fact Sheet
(PDF Format )