Mayor de Blasio, Rachel Ray to fight against cuts to school lunch

WABC logo
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Mayor de Blasio, Rachel Ray to fight against cuts to school lunch
Liz Cho with the latest on New York's fight against cuts to school lunch.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio received celebrity support in the fight to stop the Trump Administration cuts to school lunches.

Mayor de Blasio was joined on Wednesday by television host Rachel Ray, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, chef Tom Colicchio and other advocates, pledging legal action if President Trump's cuts to SNAP go into effect. It would mean reductions in food assistance to more than 1 million American children.

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is a program that benefits millions of low-income individuals and families with a monthly stipend for food.

Program eligibility also allows kids to qualify for free school lunch without having to apply for it.

Under the Trump Administration's proposed SNAP changes, as many as 21,000 children in New York City may no longer qualify for free lunch -- an outcome that the mayor hopes to prevent.

"Here's my message to the president - we will see you in court," de Blasio said. "And I want to tell you, when the city of New York has challenged Donald Trump in court ... we usually win!"

One in five New Yorkers rely on SNAP to put food on the table, and it's a valuable resource that helps more than 1.6 million New Yorkers make ends meet.

----------

* More New York City news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube