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New Report from the Tisch Food Center: Cooking Outside the Box: How a Scratch Cooking Pilot in the Bronx Is Reshaping Meals in New York City Schools

Tisch Food Center’s newest report, "Cooking Outside the Box," shows that the largest school district in the country can turn back the clock and serve fresh, appealing, scratch cooked meals to students! Read on to learn more!

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Cooking Outside the Box: How a Scratch Cooking Pilot in The Bronx is Reshaping Meals in New York City Schools describes how two New York City (NYC) public school kitchens transitioned to a full scratch cooked menu and how this is leading the way to long-term change in what NYC school students eat at school.

Key findings include:

  • The largest school system in the country can successfully prepare and serve scratch cooked meals to students- a major shift away from processed foods currently on the menu. 
  • Switching from processed to scratch cooked meals was no small feat; it required major systems changes. But, with the right investments and political will, New York City's Department of Education could eventually serve scratch cooked meals to all public school students. 
  • The potential benefits of scratch cooking to students' diets, health, academic achievement and sense of community are enormous.

Read the full report here.