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Discussion on school lunch menu development and incorporation of student feedback
1:28:30
ยท
146 sec
Council Member Mercedes Narcisse inquires about the process of developing school lunch menus and incorporating student feedback, based on concerns raised during her visit to PS 207. Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos and Deputy Chancellor Emma Vadehra explain the DOE's approach to school food and student engagement in menu planning.
- The DOE conducts taste tests with students and provides opportunities for them to give feedback on menus.
- Various methods for student feedback include surveys, taste tests, and collaboration with student advocacy groups.
- The Office of Food and Nutrition Services, led by Chris Trokarica, regularly meets with students and administrators to gather input on school meals.
Mercedes Narcisse
1:28:30
I'm scared.
1:28:31
I'm pressing my finger.
1:28:32
I recently visited two zero seven when the student expressed concern about the school lunch menu.
1:28:39
Can you explain how school lunch menus are developed, who makes the decisions, and whether students are giving any opportunity to provide feedback and meals they receive.
1:28:52
That was a student government, but they were very focused on about the meals, so I'm concerned too.
Melissa Aviles-Ramos
1:28:57
So council member Narcisse, I really wanna thank you so much for your kind words, and school food is very important to our young people, including my own daughter who gives me regular feedback on the ups and downs of it.
1:29:09
But I am super proud of this administration's approach to school food because it really has been an authentic form of civic engagement.
1:29:18
Before deputy chancellor Vadera talks about it in great detail, just to give you an overview, we have taste testings with our students.
1:29:26
We actually have opportunities for them to give feedback on the menu.
1:29:32
Chris Trokarica, who heads that office, he meets with the students regularly.
1:29:36
He meets with the administration.
1:29:38
Never gonna be perfect because my my own daughter, she came home one day and she was like, listen, I just gotta tell you, this one this one the move.
1:29:46
It wasn't the vibe.
1:29:47
So we're never gonna get it 100% right, but we have done a lot of work in this area, and I'm really proud of it.
1:29:53
So deputy chancellor Vaterra will tell you more in detail.
Rita Joseph
1:29:55
Okay.
Emma Vadehra
1:29:55
Sure.
1:29:56
Thanks.
1:29:58
So I would just say, just as the chancellor keeps talking about her chief of staff, I imagine Chris Chikarico already is planning a visit to 207 now that you've shared that.
1:30:05
So we'll be on our way soon.
1:30:07
I will say we do provide a lot of ways for students to give feedback.
1:30:11
We could always do more.
1:30:12
We are even most recently, Chris and I sat with a bunch of students who are giving us feedback on how they should be able to give feedback and why the current processes weren't working for them.
1:30:21
But we do do surveys that students can do.
1:30:24
We do do taste tests for schools across the city that we bring to do that.
1:30:28
Those are really fun.
1:30:29
If anyone has not been to one, highly recommend it.
1:30:32
You'll get to taste the food and give your own feedback, but you also get to watch the kids who grade and survey and all of that.
1:30:37
We also work with some of our local student advocacy groups who organize their own school communities to give us feedback, both on the school meals themselves but also on the arrangement of the cafeteria and our cafeteria enhancement programs and all that piece of it.
1:30:52
So we will go here from 02:07, I promise, and always happy to hear more.
Mercedes Narcisse
1:30:56
Thank you.