A new report The Public Plate in New York City: A Guide to Institutional Meals
The report, prepared by the Public Plate Working Group (Sara Quiett
Barton, Nicholas Freudenberg, Jan Poppendieck, Ashley Rafalow, Emma Tsui and
Jessica Wurwarg), analyzes the basic parameters of meal
provision, identifies challenges, highlights emerging solutions and
provides recommendations for how the City of New York can continue to improve
the nutritional quality and economic and environmental impact of the meals
served not just in these ten agencies, but for all New Yorkers. It further
examines and suggests steps the city can take to leverage its institutional
meals programs to promote economic development and reduce waste.
New York City spends more than a half a billion dollars annually on food
service through and at its public institutions; about a quarter of a million
for the food, and nearly as much on labor for food preparation. At least 10,000
people work to produce and serve these meals. (This does not include the
suppliers and distributors, truck drivers, administrators, farmers and food
processors, who are also involved in this vast system) This report explores
this complex mix of institutional meals served by the City of New York, from
meals planned, prepared and served directly by municipal agencies in public institutions
(such as schools and jails) to meals offered by independent nonprofit
organizations with which the City contracts (such as senior centers or child
care programs).
In the last seven years, NYC has made substantial progress in improving
its institutional food programs and weaving them into a system that can achieve
health, economic, environmental and social justice goals. This report suggests
specific ways and areas in which the new Mayoral administration can further
improve institutional food. The market power the city’s institutional food
provides can make healthier food more affordable food available to all New
Yorkers, as well as providing opportunities for job creation and economic
growth.
The 13 major recommendations proposed in the report are:
- Strengthen the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy
- Update the NYC Food Standards and continue to assist agencies to achieve full compliance
- Improve the data collection, analysis and reporting required for NYC Food Standards compliance and food expenditures
- Expand participation in federally funded child nutrition programs in order to increase food security for NYC children, generate additional food service jobs, and stimulate the NYC economy.
- Advocate for improvements in federal and state food assistance programs.
- Conduct systematic assessment of the discrepancies between published menus and actual offerings in a variety of institutional settings, and assess the palatability and appeal of meals as served.
- Conduct a careful comparison of prices obtained by contractors using group purchasing organizations such as Essensa, Marketplace and GPS.
- Foster a culture of consumer participation in menu planning and decision making.
- Build the capacity of foodservice workforce, especially in more decentralized foodservice systems, to make good purchasing and production decisions that favor the health and well-being of the populations served.
- Increase the proportion of local food served on the public plate.
- Build the market for healthy, fresh, local produce by continuing and expanding efforts to integrate food with the curricula of schools, day care centers, after school programs, continuing education, and other institutional settings.
- Facilitate and nurture the establishment of local, mission-driven, community based catering and food processing organizations.
- Conduct a survey of kitchen facilities and equipment needs and work with CBOs and public agencies to secure the funds necessary for expansion of capacity.
NYC can make healthier, more affordable food available
to all New Yorkers, as well as
provide new opportunities for job creation and economic growth by using the procurement and market power of its public plate strategically. By leveraging it's position it stands in a position to benefit it's most vulnerable populations on all sides of the food system.
One specific point that this author found worthwhile, and considers low hanging fruit, is placing an emphasis on procurement of local
foods for institutions. Thirty-seven states (including NY) already have policies in
place which aim to support, create, and increase opportunities for
farm-to-institution sales. These types of laws can both create a preference for
or mandate local purchases. As a recent Harvard Law paper recently
explained, "local preference
law directs state entities to prefer local food products if the
local food is. (e.g. not more than 10 percent more expensive than out-of-state
food). The second type of procurement law sets up a target for the amount of
food that will be purchased from local producers (e.g. a state may set a goal
or require that, say, 20 percent of food products purchased by state entities
be local farm or food products within a prescribed number of years)."
These types of laws can (and should) also be extended to encourage regional
purchases, encouraging tiered purchases based on proximity. These laws
not only have the potential increase the nutritional value of institutional
meals, but also to increase local spending, and therefore funding to local and
regional entrepreneurs. Furthermore, by making this food available through
it's institutions, NYC will often be aiding it's most vulnerable populations
and making foods which are often out of their reach more accessible.
The above outlined 13 recommendations provide a strong starting point and structure for the new Mayor's team to continue to support the health and wellness of New Yorker's through food at a municipal level. Let's hope the next year brings more support from the city, and that our new Mayor sees the importance role that food can play in supporting his agenda and eliminating the metaphor of NYC as a "tale of two cities."
The above outlined 13 recommendations provide a strong starting point and structure for the new Mayor's team to continue to support the health and wellness of New Yorker's through food at a municipal level. Let's hope the next year brings more support from the city, and that our new Mayor sees the importance role that food can play in supporting his agenda and eliminating the metaphor of NYC as a "tale of two cities."
The full report, executive summary and supplement are available here
Additional Resources on Institutional Food:
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