Feed breakfast to all — after the bell
Each day, our New York eateries serve a couple thousand meals to (mostly) well-heeled patrons who live to eat. We love being in the hospitality business, and our colleagues are expert at caring for our guests.
For those of us who make a living this way, it’s particularly disturbing to know how many New Yorkers can’t dream of dining out, and instead wonder where and when they will get their next meal. The problem is especially acute for kids, who can neither advocate for themselves nor do much to change the odds that they’ll break out of the cycle.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, one in five kids in the state of New York now lives with the stress of hunger in their lives. They worry about when they’ll eat. They worry about whether their siblings have enough. They know sometimes their mom is skipping dinner so they have something to eat, or that their parents are making hard decisions about whether to buy groceries or pay the electric bill so they can keep the lights on.
American kids shouldn’t have to worry. We live in a land with enough to eat for everyone. There are also programs, like school breakfast, that are designed to connect kids with food. Many of these programs, however, are outdated and can make it more complicated kids to get the food they need.
This is a solvable problem. Unlike so many issues facing our nation today, this one has a real, achievable, bipartisan solution. The state Legislature is currently considering a proposal that would modernize school breakfast. While New York City is implementing breakfast in the classroom in elementary schools, this proposal would expand it to all high need K-12 schools across the state. It’s the right thing to do.
The traditional way of serving school breakfast is to offer it in the cafeteria before the school day begins. But in recent years, many high-poverty schools have discovered that shifting the time breakfast is served, offering it once students have arrived rather than before, has a dramatic impact on participation levels.
A new report from Hunger Solutions New York shows that, in last school year, an additional for 32,000 kids in New York began eating school breakfast each morning, thanks in large part to implementation of Breakfast After the Bell in New York City elementary schools.
Serving breakfast after the bell means it becomes a part of the school day, just like lunch, and kids no longer have to worry about logistics, transportation and stigma around the meal.
Bringing breakfast after the bell to all high-poverty schools would give tens of thousands of kids the chance to get this critical nutrition.
Amazing things happen when kids eat school breakfast. When every child starts the day with something good to eat, it helps to level the playing field. Research shows that, when kids consistently get breakfast, it has an impact on test scores. Teachers and principals also report that classrooms are more focused. Kids spend more time listening to their teachers and less time with the school nurse.
Getting breakfast on a regular basis also helps with a child’s basic wellbeing. I often say that business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.
The same can be said for how we feed our children. When you serve breakfast after the bell, it removes the shame and stigma. Students aren’t singled out for being “the poor kids.” Shared meals become a source of community and a calm start to their busy days.
All of this has a domino effect on the rest of the state. Over the years, our restaurants have employed thousands of employees. I know the value of a smart, healthy workforce. Today’s school breakfast fuels stronger students who can focus and learn; tomorrow, these students will become the chefs, doctors, artists, engineers, public servants and parents we all rely on as a society.
We should make sure they have every chance to become smarter, healthier and more confident, so that they can grow up to lead a smarter, healthier and stronger New York.