Good Monday morning. We’re back in the saddle.
I was one of those kids who brought my lunch pretty much up until high school. Of course, because one always wants what they can’t have, I longed to buy school lunch.
At that time (we’re talking decades ago here), the quality of what was on the menu wasn’t terribly high. Chicken nuggets. Canned spaghetti. Frozen pizza. Basically, all the things I wasn’t allowed to eat with any regularity at home. There were also these triple decker peanut butter and (grape) jelly sandwiches on white bread that I pined after.
Again, not because it was anything fantastic, but mostly because it was so alien to me and also so normal. All the other kids were eating this sort of thing and then there was me with my wrinkled bakery bags and homemade sandwiches on bagels.
I don’t remember if breakfast was available until I got to high school, where bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches on a hard roll cooked in a large pool of indeterminate grease were on the daily menu. And man, where they delicious. I ate them with some regularity (I had a job and my own spending money by then) and I’m surprised my arteries lived to tell the tale.
There were definitely classmates of mine who received free and reduced lunch, but we didn’t really make a big deal about it. They presented a punch card at the cashier like everyone else who bought meals in bulk (it was cheaper this way), and that was that.
These days, some 14.45 million students across the country are served school breakfast, about10.94 million of which are free, according to the School Nutrition Association. That all adds up to 2.37 billion breakfasts dished up every year. That’s in addition to 28.5 million lunches served, 18.9 million of which are free and 1.1 million reduced cost (the student pays about 30 cents a meal), with 4.6 billion served every year.
These meals are a reliable staple for a lot of kids. In short: If they’re not eating at school, they might not be eating much – if at all. Childhood hunger is a mounting problem across the nation, and nutrition (or lack thereof) correlates with academic performance.
Certainly the quality of school meals varies widely across the country. There are regularly news reports about the horrors of school lunch – often in poorer, inner-city schools. Then again, I have personally eaten in suburban high school cafeterias that served a wide variety of food, the quality of which rivaled higher-end fast casual restaurants.
Like so much else related to schools, what is served to kids is a political hot potato. And school food – regulated at the federal, state, and local levels – is big business. It’s worth millions of dollars, and therefore is the subject of significant lobbying efforts by some deep pocketed entities. (If you want to go down the rabbit hole on that, click here).
Increasingly, districts contract with brand name fast food outlets (this usually starts with the vending machines). Kids like this a lot, of course, but serving to a captive audience and making money off them, critics say, is a questionable practice – to say nothing of the havoc it wrecks on their bodies.
And, of course, there are shifting regulations in terms of calories, fights about how much salt, fat, sugar (goodbye chocolate milk!?), and even animal products should be included – a big focus for the sometimes vegan mayor of New York City – and much more. Also, since public schools are publicly funded, their food programs are subject to the vagaries of budget cuts.
I have barely scratched the surface of all there is to say about school meals. But since things are already getting a little lengthy around here – and I’m sure that not everyone reading this post is a parent who cares about this sort of thing, though if you’re a taxpayer I’d argue you probably should – I’ll cut things short to say: Happy School Breakfast Week!
This week was launched by the School Nutrition Association, “a national, nonprofit professional organization representing 50,000 members who provide high-quality, low-cost meals to students across the country,” in the late 1980s to raise awareness about the importance of “healthy breakfast choices” in the wake of federal budget cuts that impacted children’s nutrition programs.
For the record, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and I often opt for breakfast foods – usually eggs, but also sometimes french toast or even oatmeal – for brunch, lunch, or dinner.
Another near-high record temperature day is on tap, with the potential of reaching 60 degrees (or higher?). Skies will be cloudy.
In the headlines…
A poll finds that a growing share of U.S. adults doubt President Joe Biden, 81, has the memory and acuity for the job, turning his coming State of the Union address into something of a real-time audition for a second term.
Roughly 6 in 10 say they’re not very or not at all confident in Biden’s mental capability to serve effectively, The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found. Nearly 6 in 10 also say they lack confidence in former President Donald Trump’s mental capacity.
Biden is struggling to overcome doubts about his leadership inside his own party and broad dissatisfaction over the nation’s direction, leaving him trailing Trump just as their general-election contest is about to begin, a new Siena/NYT poll has found.
With eight months left until the November election, Biden’s 43 percent support lags behind Trump’s 48 percent in the national survey of registered voters.
Biden faces dwindling support among young voters, a crucial voting bloc for Democrats, ahead of the presidential election, according to a new poll that found Trump winning voters younger than 30 years old.
Widespread concerns about Biden’s age pose a deepening threat to his re-election bid, with a majority of voters who supported him in 2020 now saying he is too old to lead the country effectively, the poll also found.
Soul Cycle, speed chess and a push-up contest are just a day in the life of Biden in the latest “Saturday Night Live” parody of his age, which added a new wrinkle to the bit – making fun of his supporters’ denials that age is an issue.
A network of right-wing activists and allies of Trump is quietly challenging thousands of voter registrations in critical presidential battleground states, an all-but-unnoticed effort that could have an impact in a close or contentious election.
Nikki Haley suggested that she no longer felt bound by a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, but did not rule out endorsing Trump, even as she said she didn’t know whether he would follow the Constitution as president.
Haley saw her first victory of the cycle when she defeated Trump with nearly 63 percent of the vote in the Washington, D.C. Republican primary, a contest that took place this weekend in a downtown hotel steps away from the heart of the lobbying hub.
“Let’s do it,” Haley said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “Thank you, DC! We fight for every inch.”
In a more than 20-minute interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” Haley repeatedly hedged on yes-or-no questions as her campaign heads into the 15 state-Super Tuesday, having lost every GOP contest so far in which delegates have been awarded.
Meanwhile, Trump swept a trio of states Saturday, inching his way closer to a formal grasp of the party’s nomination for president. He notched victories in the Missouri and Idaho caucuses, and gained the 39 delegates available at Michigan’s convention caucuses.
Trump and Haley face off tonight in the North Dakota caucuses, then it’s on to Super Tuesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and two New York reps are inviting the police officers who were attacked by a migrant mob near Times Square back in January to Biden’s State of the Union address.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pushed back on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent remarks that Biden should use more executive authority to take action on the southern border.
Biden, on Saturday, addressing the United States’ airdrops conducted with Jordan that delivered humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, said the assistance will not be a one-time occurrence.
U.S. officials said the airdrop was carried out using three C-130 military planes. Biden announced on Friday that Washington was planning on delivering aid in coordination with Jordan amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel’s reluctance to fill the current leadership vacuum in northern Gaza formed the backdrop to the chaos that led to the deaths last Thursday of dozens of Palestinians on the Gazan coast, analysts and aid workers have said.
An unpublished investigation by the main United Nations agency for Palestinian affairs accuses Israel of abusing hundreds of Gazans captured during the war with Hamas, according to a copy of the report reviewed by The New York Times.
Chef José Andrés is pushing back on criticism surrounding the humanitarian airdrops into Gaza, arguing food must be delivered there in “any way” it can be.
Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, citing the “humanitarian catastrophe” caused by the Israel-Hamas War.
Harris is scheduled to meet with a top Israeli war cabinet official at the White House today, a day after she amplified the United States’s calls for Hamas to sign off on a deal that would allow for a temporary cease-fire and more aid deliveries in the Gaza Strip.
A growing number of children in Gaza are dying from dehydration and malnutrition amid desperate conditions due to Israel’s throttling of aid and destruction of the besieged enclave, reinforcing the urgency of this week’s ceasefire talks.
Yesterday, Israel decided not to send a delegation to Egypt for talks on a deal for a ceasefire and release of hostages from Gaza. An Israeli official said the reason was that Hamas had not responded to two Israeli demands.
The Supreme Court in an unusual announcement signaled it will release at least one opinion this morning, a signal the justices could hand down a decision on former President Trump’s 14th Amendment case that kicked him off the Colorado ballot.
Trump is looming over the upcoming leadership battle to replace Mitch McConnell as senators weigh each contender’s independence with their alignment to the former president and the party’s base.
Trump is endorsing GOPer Mike Sapraicone to take on Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand — even though Sapraicone has donated to his nemesis, state Attorney General Letitia James.
Gov. Kathy Hochul traveled to Binghamton University Friday to announce millions of dollars in funding for the university and state commercial sites.
More than $45 million has been awarded to improve seven locations in New York so that they may attract high-tech manufacturing businesses, Hochul’s office announced.
Sea levels surrounding New York City are expected to rise at least 6 to 9 inches in the 2030s and potentially up to 13 inches in some areas due to climate change, according to state DEC projections.
Mayor Eric Adams said Friday he has not been contacted directly by federal authorities following FBI raids on properties owned by and connected to one of his top aides, Winnie Greco, on Feb. 29.
During a round of local media appearances, the mayor said his administration is cooperating with investigators and that he remains committed to serving city residents.
Greco, a longtime Adams ally and director of Asian affairs at City Hall, had a medical episode during the search and was taken to the hospital by ambulance, a city official said. She will be placed on unpaid leave during the investigation.
Rana Abbasova, the Adams aide whose home was raided by federal investigators late last year, received three tickets in New Jersey in January for offenses linked to driving a for-hire vehicle, court records show.
Former Gov. David Paterson endorsed Adams’ bid to roll back New York City’s “sanctuary” protections for migrants accused of violent crimes and with prior rap sheets.
Adams has been rolling back his predecessor’s nationally renowned preschool program amid budget cuts. Now, parents and political opponents are using those rollbacks to build a case against his reelection next year.
New York lobbyists have hit the jackpot alongside a push to open casinos in the Big Apple — raking in bundles as they try to woo Adams and council members, a new city report reveals.
Brooklyn State Sen. Zellnor Myrie yesterday delivered an impassioned speech at a historic Harlem church 10 miles away from his district, adding fuel to speculation he’s gearing up to run for mayor in 2025.
A program that serves thousands of students at risk of dropping out of school could be on the chopping block as federal emergency COVID funding expires at the end of June, sources said.
The City Council’s tax revenue projection exceeds Adams’ most recent forecast, giving the chamber’s Democrats fodder as they brace for a contentious budget battle expected to center on whether to reverse the mayor’s cuts to public services and agencies.
The New York City Council says Adams underestimated tax revenues for the current and upcoming fiscal years by more than $3 billion, as budget hearings get under way this week at City Hall.
A majority of New York state voters say unemployment benefits are too low and should be raised, according to a new poll commissioned by the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, the powerful union that represents hotel workers.
Overtime costs continue to mount at the MTA’s East New York Bus Depot, where malfunctioning fire sprinklers still haven’t been fixed after years of leaks and failed tests.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman slammed Attorney General Letitia James Friday, after she sent him a cease and desist letter that ordered him to end his recent ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports.
Serious crashes involving police cars are unfolding with increasing frequency across New York, often resulting in property damage but also serious injuries and deaths, a Times Union investigation has found.
A Buffalo lawyer, Tony Rupp, yelled at a police officer and received a noise citation. He argues he was punished for what he said, not how loudly he said it.
New York’s latest bids for offshore wind projects have bypassed the Port of Albany, leaving a planned expansion there in the doldrums when it comes to the race for jobs and economic development stemming from the growth of alternative energy.
The Guilderland Public Library will hire an outside party to investigate after its in-house cafe abruptly closed over what one of its owners said was racist behavior from library staff.
When it comes city salaries, Saratoga Springs police and fire officials are paid more than other city employees after overtime and payouts for accrued compensation.
RIP Iris Apfel, a New York society matron and interior designer who late in life impacted the fashion world with a brash bohemian style that mixed hippie vintage and haute couture, found treasures in flea markets and reveled in contradictions. She died at 102.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
