Moldy meals and less chicken tenders: NYC students report decline in lunch quality | NBC new York

A state senator is blasting the city for pictures she says show mold on food served to students. News 4's Melissa Colorado is live in Fort Greene with more on the lackluster lunches there. Melissa. And Gilma, we know that teens can be picky eaters but a state senator from Brooklyn says her phone is just blowing up with complaints from students and their parents about the school that's being served in their cafeterias. She says there's been a decline in food quality as well as in protein options and she says in some extreme cases she's being sent photos of food that appear to have mold. These are the photos that some New York City high school students are snapping of their school lunch and sharing them with state senator Iwin Chu of Brooklyn. Cream cheese that has gone bad, a plate of rice and beans and nothing else and a side of what can best be as. There's some kind of like mushy paste. Chu who represents neighborhoods that include Sunset Park, Bay Ridge and Diker Heights says she started hearing complaints in early February. We need to provide a quality nutrition, fresh lunch, not moldy orange or moldy cream cheese. Chu says students from various high schools including Brooklyn Tech, Edward R. Murrow, Midwood and Staten Island Tech sent her photos of their meals. One of the common complaints, a decline in protein options. What I heard from the students, they have pizza every other day, there's no meat on it. Sometimes they will have the chicken nuggets but not every not every meal they might have once a day. It's something that Brooklyn Tech high school student Teddy Simmons can attest to. I think that honestly we've had a decline in quality like since I got here like there's been less chicken tenders. Chu sent this letter to the mayor's office and the DOE asking questions. Waiting for the city, the mayor office or the DOE to tell us what exactly is the issue. In the meantime, Simmons continues to pack his lunch and hopes state senator Chu's efforts make a difference. Some of it's like I don't want to say like prioritizing nutrition but it's like prioritizing nutrition and cheapness and like it doesn't really matter if the kids won't eat your food. And we did hear back from the DOE, a spokesperson telling us the DOE serves 900,000 meals every single day and that all food quality issues are investigated by a team of food inspectors. A school food team visited the schools that the state senator referenced in her letter. That's the latest here in Fort Greene. I'm Melissa Colorado, News 4 New York.