May 28, 2019
Dear Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council Speaker Corey Johnson,
The New York City public school population comprises of nearly half a million Muslim school children and an additional hundred thousand more Jewish children. Yet, as one of the major and global cities of the world, we do not provide school lunches that adhere to the religious guidelines for observant Muslim and Jewish students, allowing them to go hungry and without a meal in an 8-hour school day.
Community groups and activists have campaigned for over a decade to help introduce halal/kosher foods to NYC public schools. In FY 18, we were successful in winning $1 million towards launching a pilot initiative in 6 out of 1,800 public schools across the city. We’ve received countless praises from children, school administration, parents, and religious leaders on how successful this program has been.
Now, it’s time for expansion!
With this letter, we urge you to allocate dedicated funding in FY2020 city budget that will introduce a comprehensive halal/kosher food school lunch program in all NYC public schools. This is an investment that has three major wins:
1. Ensures that every child has equal access to a meal and that no child remains hungry during schools hours. This helps to build city institutions that are truly inclusive and culturally sensitive to large ethnic and religiously diverse communities of our city.
2. Strengthening of the public education system by giving parents and community members confidence in believing that schools are meeting their needs, and in turn, increasing the support for public schools.
3. Sending a clear message to our young children that their city cares for them and that this is a city they can truly call home.
With Gratitude,
[YOUR NAME]
[Borough]
[Zip Code]
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
June 2, 2019
Reached 100 supporters
May 31, 2019
316 Comments
Our students need halal lunches with nutrition necessary for them to grow. Vegetarian diet has not been a choice for them: most of the students will skip their lunch because they are not able to eat vegetarian diet every day. When students are hungry, they do not function appropriately.
Yes, please it’s about time change take place in the school cafeterias. No more children going hungry. My child is in jr high and he keeps himself hungry for through out the school day watching other children devour their lunch. Where is justice in that? So please give our kids chance to have halal lunches too.
I wish this was available when I attended NYC public school. My Muslim friends and I often skipped lunch because there were no Halal options and would come home starving. I currently work at a NYC public school and the Muslim students there do the same. Some have packed lunches, but other's just go without food.
Wish we had this option growing up. Also as a mom, it would make mornings less hectic if we had the choice to let our kids have school lunch instead of having to pack every morning.
True universal lunch will only be achievable when Muslim and Jewish students are able to eat food as their Christian, Catholic, and other beliefs of students are able to. Students should not go hungry in a city where prison inmates are offered halal and kosher options.
I believe every children should be able to have food, it’s nit right that Muslims and Jews pay taxes yet the children can’t have halal/kosher meals Inmates and prisoners are able to get halal and kosher meals
We want halal foods for our kids
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May 28, 2019
Dear Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council Speaker Corey Johnson,
The New York City public school population comprises of nearly half a million Muslim school children and an additional hundred thousand more Jewish children. Yet, as one of the major and global cities of the world, we do not provide school lunches that adhere to the religious guidelines for observant Muslim and Jewish students, allowing them to go hungry and without a meal in an 8-hour school day.
Community groups and activists have campaigned for over a decade to help introduce halal/kosher foods to NYC public schools. In FY 18, we were successful in winning $1 million towards launching a pilot initiative in 6 out of 1,800 public schools across the city. We’ve received countless praises from children, school administration, parents, and religious leaders on how successful this program has been.
Now, it’s time for expansion!
With this letter, we urge you to allocate dedicated funding in FY2020 city budget that will introduce a comprehensive halal/kosher food school lunch program in all NYC public schools. This is an investment that has three major wins:
1. Ensures that every child has equal access to a meal and that no child remains hungry during schools hours. This helps to build city institutions that are truly inclusive and culturally sensitive to large ethnic and religiously diverse communities of our city.
2. Strengthening of the public education system by giving parents and community members confidence in believing that schools are meeting their needs, and in turn, increasing the support for public schools.
3. Sending a clear message to our young children that their city cares for them and that this is a city they can truly call home.
With Gratitude,
[YOUR NAME]
[Borough]
[Zip Code]
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
June 2, 2019
Reached 100 supporters
May 31, 2019
316 Comments
I remember having to hope there was something permissible for me to eat everyday in elementary and middle school and I would go hungry many days. This is not NYC and this is not what we stand for.
Our students need halal lunches with nutrition necessary for them to grow. Vegetarian diet has not been a choice for them: most of the students will skip their lunch because they are not able to eat vegetarian diet every day. When students are hungry, they do not function appropriately.
Yes, please it’s about time change take place in the school cafeterias. No more children going hungry. My child is in jr high and he keeps himself hungry for through out the school day watching other children devour their lunch. Where is justice in that? So please give our kids chance to have halal lunches too.
I wish this was available when I attended NYC public school. My Muslim friends and I often skipped lunch because there were no Halal options and would come home starving. I currently work at a NYC public school and the Muslim students there do the same. Some have packed lunches, but other's just go without food.
Wish we had this option growing up. Also as a mom, it would make mornings less hectic if we had the choice to let our kids have school lunch instead of having to pack every morning.
True universal lunch will only be achievable when Muslim and Jewish students are able to eat food as their Christian, Catholic, and other beliefs of students are able to. Students should not go hungry in a city where prison inmates are offered halal and kosher options.
I believe every children should be able to have food, it’s nit right that Muslims and Jews pay taxes yet the children can’t have halal/kosher meals Inmates and prisoners are able to get halal and kosher meals
We want halal foods for our kids
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I remember having to hope there was something permissible for me to eat everyday in elementary and middle school and I would go hungry many days. This is not NYC and this is not what we stand for.