New York City may be ebonylittered with gluten-loving rats and paved with chicken bone highways, but if there's one thing the city's occasionally good at, it's policy.
The city's school Chancellor Carmen Fariña recently announced that free lunch would now be available to the city's 1.1 million students, regardless of income level. Previously, free lunch was only available to low income students who qualified.
SEE ALSO: This Whole Foods map of French cheese is a crime against dairyThe city's move comes after a series of articles sparked a nationwide outrage about "lunch-shaming," the practice of shaming kids -- or requiring them to do labor -- when they can't afford lunch.
Instead of admitting they don't have the money, many students will often just forego lunch.
What kind of country denies free frozen pizza to kids?
#NotMyCafeteria.
Approximately 75 percent of New York City students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The new initiative is expected to reach an additional 200,000 students and save families $300 a year.
Via GiphyAs someone who spent years working in New York City schools, I can verify that the competition for lunch snacks is indeed brutal.
I once witnessed a confrontation between a Security Guard and a student over a turkey sandwich that almost became physical, and was profoundly embarrassing for everyone involved.
(This isn't even salami we're talking about -- it's TURKEY!)
Since the free lunch program is a federal program, the city's budget will remain largely unaffected.
Sorry Paul Ryan! This meal's on you.
Love Songs: “She Will Be Loved”? by Clare SestanovichJohn Wick Marathon by The Paris ReviewLove Songs: “I’m Your Man” by Laurie StoneMy Ugly Bathroom by Sarah MillerMy Ugly Bathroom by Sarah MillerAt Proust Weekend: The Madeleine Event by Olivia KanPostcard from Hudson by Laurie StoneMaking of a Poem: Peter Mishler on “My Blockchain” by Peter MishlerShopping Diary by Adrienne RaphelBedbugs by Sophie KempKickoff: The World Cup by Jonathan WilsonLove Songs: “Mississippi” by Sophie HaigneyOn Paper: An Interview with Thomas Demand by Olivia KanToday I Have Very Strong Feelings by Jonathan WilsonThe Review Celebrates Seventy with Fried Eggs by the Canal by Matthew HiggsLove Songs: “Being in Love” by Robert RubsamFaring by Saskia HamiltonAnnouncing the 2023 George Plimpton and Susannah Hunnewell Prize Winners by The Paris ReviewShopping Diary by Adrienne RaphelA Place for Fire by Elisa Gabbert We Tell Ourselves Stories: Didion’s “White Album” Takes to the Stage by Daniel Penny The Moral of the Story by Anthony Madrid Poetry Rx: A Love Poem without Clichés by Claire Schwartz The Erotics of Cy Twombly by Catherine Lacey Redux: The Shopping Mall of Loss by The Paris Review Lionel Trilling’s Hottest Takes by Lionel Trilling Cooking with Georges Bataille by Valerie Stivers Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, Fabulist and Fabulous Singer by The Paris Review The Sound of Dawn by Nina MacLaughlin Selections from Leonard Cohen’s Notebooks The Sight of Dawn by Nina MacLaughlin Virginia Woolf’s Little On Can Xue’s ‘Love in the New Millennium’ Redux: The Old Juices Flowing by The Paris Review Becoming Radicalized: An Interview With John Wray Dick and Jane, Forcibly Drowned and Then Brought Back to Life by Ben Marcus Ted Cruz Erotica Rethinking Schiele by Cody Delistraty Finding My Family in Roald Dahl’s ‘Boy’ The First Abstract Painter Was a Woman by Nana Asfour