There’s no such thing as a free lunch — at least not for the city’s Muslim and Jewish schoolkids.
Religious leaders sent Mayor de Blasio a letter slamming the city’s free universal school lunch plan for not not offering kosher or halal food.
De Blasio rolled out the federally funded program promising to give all city students free meals with the first day of public school on Sept. 7.
But influential Jewish and Muslim leaders say thousands of Jewish and Muslim kids — including 30,000 students in Yeshivas and thousands of eligible Muslim kids — aren’t getting the free meals because none of the food is certified kosher or halal.
“Thousands of children in our community and the Muslim community are left out of this initiative due to religious dietary restrictions,” the letter dated Nov. 22 says. “We urge you to remove the current impediments preventing thousands of students from benefiting.”
Twenty-one religious leaders from Jewish and Muslim institutions across the city signed the letter, including Sheikh Musa Drammeh of the Bronx Islamic Leadership School and Rabbi Mark Dratch of the Rabbinical Council of America.
City administrators estimate 38% of students in the city’s public schools are Jewish or Muslim. And the city has been taking fire for weeks, for failing to offer kosher or halal school food.
The Orthodox Union, a Jewish nonprofit group based in Manhattan, held rallies to pressure the city to include kosher foods in the program and executed an ad campaign on the issue in October.
In addition, state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Queens) introduced legislation in September to require public schools to offer meals that meet students’ religious dietary rules.
City Education Department spokesman Michael Aciman said the city’s universal free school lunch program provides nutritious meals to all students who attend participating schools.
“We offer daily vegetarian alternative options to ensure all students have access to a healthy meal every day,” Aciman said.