Some students will be able to have halal and kosher school lunches soon.
Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D–Sheepshead Bay) has announced a pilot program that will introduce new menu options for kids at a selection of schools across the city.
The councilman has secured $1 million in the Council’s budget to institute the program, which is the first of its kind in the city and will start at a small number of public and private schools, according to a spokeswoman for the councilman.
The program will aim to make school lunches more accessible to kids that eat according to Muslim and Jewish dietary restrictions, according to Deutsch.
“Universal free lunch in New York City schools is not truly universal until every child, in every school, regardless of religious dietary restrictions, is provided with a healthy, filling meal,” he said in a press release.
Deutsch announced the program outside City Hall on Sept. 4, where he was joined in support by city and state pols, as well as advocates from the Jewish and Muslim communities.
Deutsch is still working out the details of the program, but he hopes to be serving kosher and halal meals by the end of the year, according to a spokeswoman for the councilman.
The current plan is for two public and two private schools across the city to take on the initiative, according to the spokeswoman.
