How NYC Students Saved School Lunch.
Youth Food Advocates, a program run by Community Food Advocates, trains New York City students to research school food and push for changes. Its students have helped shape cafeteria redesigns and menu feedback.
Leslie Gomez Rivera avoided the cafeteria at Midwood High School in Brooklyn for three reasons: she disliked the food, the room felt hectic, and eating school meals carried a stigma. She often spent lunch in the library, sometimes without eating. After learning about Youth Food Advocates (YFA), which trains New York City students to research school food issues and advocate for change, she decided to act.
In late 2020, Rivera, then 16, wrote a survey and circulated it at her school. About 100 of roughly 4,000 students across Midwood's two buildings responded. Popcorn chicken, sauces, fruit and salads were named as popular items. Respondents also raised concerns about food quality and limited choices, and some asked for more of the foods they eat at home.
Rivera took the results to the cafeteria manager and the principal. She says the manager was surprised to see a student with organized feedback but welcomed it. The manager also noted that cafeteria attendance had fallen sharply after Covid. Rivera brought that to Midwood's student leadership team, which began promoting the redesigned cafeteria and its menu. Community Food Advocates (CFA), which runs YFA, later credited her with helping bring the space back to full use.
YFA students have also helped create a toolkit for schools renovating their cafeterias. It recommends deli-style stations that show food more prominently, give students more choice and shorten waits by replacing a single serving line. Another focus has been newer, more comfortable seating meant to make the room feel more welcoming and social. By December 2025, more than 200 cafeterias had been renovated. CFA reports that lunch participation rose 35 percent at redesigned high schools, based on its own analysis of city data.
Researchers quoted in the article described the value of student input. Wendi Gosliner of the University of California's Nutrition Policy Institute said the aim is "to not vilify food services, but rather to collaborate with them." Pamela Koch of Teachers College, Columbia University, said students are well placed to give feedback because they eat the food daily.
The article also notes the group's earlier role in policy. Iyeshima Harris-Ouedraogo, who testified at City Hall as a teenager with the Lunch 4 Learning campaign, met then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, and citywide universal free school meals followed in 2017. Rivera, now 22, later worked at Green Guerillas and has testified at a city budget hearing.
At a Glance
- Leslie Gomez Rivera surveyed Midwood High School students in late 2020; about 100 of roughly 4,000 students responded.
- NYC made school lunch free for all public school students in 2017, after advocacy that included YFA student organizers.
- More than 200 NYC cafeterias had been renovated by December 2025.
- Community Food Advocates says lunch participation rose 35 percent at redesigned high schools, based on its analysis of city data.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.