NYC: Free Breakfast Now Available To All City School Kids

[DoNotRefill]

"There's no such thing as a free lunch, but Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said Friday, starting immediately, there will now be free breakfast for the city's more than 1.1 million students.

Klein said any student, regardless of need, can show up early on any school day for a healthy breakfast.

However, there will be a slight hike in school lunch prices for children not eligible for reduced-price lunch. The price will rise from $1 to $1.50. "

http://www.ny1.com/ny/TopStories/SubTopic/index.html?topicintid=1&subtopicintid=1&contentintid=33127

Sounds too good to be true....What's the catch?

[sujan]

1. very nice

[Systematic Chaos]

2. $1.50 for a school lunch, if it's half decent food,

isn't bad at all.

When I was in Jr. High school back in the early 80's here in Las Vegas a lunch was around a dollar full price if memory serves. Reduced price lunches were $.50 and in the cafeteria you had a choice of lines where you could get one of a number of sandwiches or a chef salad. I often went with the salad because it was the most filling thing on the menu, ironically.

In high school it was a la carte with no limits on how much you could buy, and a typical lunch was about $1.50 - $2.00. Either something like a hot dog and drink or two nacho bowls and a drink.

[pw]

11. $1.50 isn't such a bad price

But 50% is generally not referred to as "a slight hike".

[bluestateguy]

3. Some conservative will denounce it as "socialism"

"If they can't pay, they must STARVE AND DIE!"

[baldguy]

10. FEEDING CHILDREN IS A COMMUNST PLOT!

those effin neew yo-erk pinko libruls terraists are out to DESTROY AMERICA!

[prolesunited]

12. I had to chuckle

because I'm sure this is exactly what some of them are saying.

I hope they are serving the children truly nutritious choices. Too often they stuff the kids with high-fat, over-processed foods. I recall reading an article — Mother Jones I think — about the school food programs helping to make kids fat and unhealthy.

[DoNotRefill]

4. shit...I just thought of something....

What about bussed students? Generally, busses arrive very shortly before school actually starts. I wonder if the truly poor, who don't have a stay-at-home mom to drive them to school, will have time to take advantage of this.

I wonder how they'll handle this...

[LosinIt]

5. My son sometimes eats breakfast at school and I asked him how he had time

I was informed that you just 'chew real fast, talk fast, eat some more.' A lovely image, wish I hadn't asked.

[DoNotRefill]

6. Ahhhh....social graces.....

BWAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

sounds like your son has priorities straight...rather than sticking with social conventions, food AND friendship take precedence!!! As long as everybody's talking with their mouths full together, everythings OK!!! :)

[Gin]

7. This may be the only meal some kids get....it's a good thing...I approve.

Maybe they will fix any glitches for the bus riders...this is for NYC kids only....how widespread is busing in the city?

[TahitiNut]

8. Don't kids just do transit in NYC?

I don't ever recall the yellow sardine cans. :shrug:

[LizW]

9. schedule-juggling

Just got a note from my son's school that they were bumping the schedule up a little so the bus students will have time to eat, and reminding parents who drive their kids to school to get them there early enough so everyone who wants to eat has time before classes start.

This is a terrific thing for working parents. (And for kids) I wish it could be done everywhere.

I went to a small rural school back in the 60's, and I remember many times seeing teachers wake students up who were sleeping in class and give them milk and a snack. The teachers knew that the kids weren't tired, they were HUNGRY. For lack of fuel, their brains just turned off.