Res 1146-2019

By Council Members Van Bramer and Kallos Whereas, The New York City Department of Education (DOE) is the largest public school system in the United States (U.S.) with approximately 1.1 million students; and Whereas, DOE's Office of Food & Nutrition Services (OFNS) serves around 940,000 meals to these students each school day, and all meals are provided at no charge to the students or their parents; and Whereas, In recent years, OFNS has taken a number of steps to improve the health and nutrition of school meals, such as eliminating artificial colors and flavors, non-nutritious sweeteners, and preservatives; and Whereas, Further, effective July 1, 2019, OFNS will no longer offer certain processed meats on school menus, including salami, bologna and "turkey ham"; and Whereas, OFNS has also created some vegetarian breakfast and lunch menus, to provide vegetarian options for students who prefer them, including full vegetarian lunch menus for elementary and Kindergarten through 8th grade schools; and Whereas, However, while some of their individual menu items do not contain dairy products, OFNS does not list any dairy-free menu options; and Whereas, Rather, DOE offers lactose-free milk to students who submit a doctor's note to the school nurse stating that the student is lactose intolerant; and Whereas, Lactose intolerance is a common digestive problem that occurs when the body does not have enough lactase, an enzyme that is necessary to digest lactose - the natural sugar found in milk and other dairy products - which can produce abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence, nausea, and diarrhea; and Whereas, According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 65 percent of the human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy, although prevalence varies among different populations globally; and Whereas, In addition to addressing potential student health issues, providing dairy-free menu options will benefit the environment; and Whereas, Milk and dairy production impacts the environment in various ways; and Whereas, According to the World Wildlife Fund, dairy cows and their manure produce greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change; and Whereas, Additionally, poor handling of manure and fertilizers can degrade local water resources; and Whereas, Further, unsustainable dairy farming and feed production can lead to the loss of ecologically important areas, such as prairies, wetlands, and forests; and Whereas, In fact, avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce one's environmental impact on the planet, according to recent research reported in the February 2019 issue of the journal Science; and Whereas, To safeguard students' health, as well as promote environmental sustainability and combat climate change; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York City Department of Education to provide dairy-free options for all student meals. LS# 10403 JA 10/16/19 2