One Brooklyn
January 4, 2021
Brooklyn, NY – Today, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams released testimony he submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on a recent proposal, known as “meal flexibilities,” which experts believe would increase access to one percent chocolate milk in schools, cut whole-grain serving requirements in half, and give nutrition directors more time to meet weakened sodium reduction targets. The proposed rule change comes in the final days of the Trump administration as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to be inaugurated later this month. Borough President Adams framed his testimony as a “resolution” for 2021 to promote healthy eating in schools across the city, state, and country as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the nation.
“A new year means a renewed sense of purpose, and a promise to improve upon ourselves and our communities. Yet, the USDA’s recent proposal would devalue the quality of food served to those nutritionally insecure children and adults and negatively impact their health at a time when we can least afford it,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. “We have seen the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on communities suffering from high rates of diet-related illnesses such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Nutrition is a critical tool in our toolbox to fight this pandemic and improve the overall health of our borough and city. We can neither afford nor abide the human cost of nutritionally flexible school food.”
Within Brooklyn, 575 schools serve 342,332 students, many of whom come from low-income and underserved communities. The City estimates that 1.2 million New Yorkers were food insecure before the coronavirus outbreak; that number is now believed to be nearly two million. Between March and September 2020, more than 54 million meals have been distributed at public schools across the five boroughs.
Children and underserved communities, most often communities of color, are the two populations most likely to receive food from Brooklyn school lunchrooms; they are also the populations at highest risk for developing chronic disease. Before the pandemic, children were the fastest growing population suffering from obesity, while Black and Brown communities were disproportionately afflicted with high rates of diet-related chronic disease. Data show that chronic diet-related illnesses such as obesity and diabetes vastly increase the risk of contracting a severe case of, or dying from, COVID-19.
Foods high in added sugars, such as one percent chocolate milk, are linked with a higher risk of childhood obesity. Growing evidence also links dairy milk consumption to increased prostate cancer and breast cancer risk. A diet high in whole grains and low in processed grains has been shown to lower the risk for colon cancer and Type 2 diabetes. The USDA’s proposed menu would likely heighten the risk for vulnerable communities of developing a diet-related illness, make it more difficult to treat a pre-existing diet-related condition, and undermine efforts to improve individual and public health at a time when the pandemic is surging. In addition, on Tuesday, December 29, 2020, the USDA released its dietary guidelines, which make no attempt to promote a diet that prevents or reverses chronic disease in America.
“As I can personally attest, nutritious meals don’t just sate our appetites — they also promote healthy lifestyles,” continued Borough President Adams. “Amid the ongoing pandemic, our school lunches are a critical tool to protect and promote national health. The USDA must, therefore, recommit to the most scientifically rigorous nutritional standards for human health.”
The full testimony is available here.
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