The Department of Defense is the only government entity serving more meals daily than New York City public schools, which operates a meal program with a rich history of both progress and regress. This story of New York City school meals is one that shows both local action and inputs of the federal government. A landmark policy change in 2017 announced all 1.1 million schoolchildren enrolled in New York City public schools would receive free lunches. Prior to the 2017 decision, there existed a history of charity, corruption, legislation, and ingenuity. This paper traces the history of school meals in New York City public schools, and highlights the path to the "Lunch Is At No Charge For All NYC Students" (New York City Department of Education, 2017) announcement.