Each school day shortly before noon, students congregate outside the Salkind Center to wait in the lunch line. Students purchase food that the FLIK Hospitality Group (FLIK) serves starting at 7:45 a.m.
FLIK is a for-profit organization that mostly serves food for corporate dining. Urban contracts with a sub-organization called FLIK Independent School Dining, which aims to serve healthy and nutritious meals to students. “[E]very ingredient is selected for freshness, healthfulness and sustainability,” FLIK wrote on their website.
In the United States, 30 million children eat school meals daily, many of which are composed of processed, high-sugar foods.
In a survey conducted by the School Nutrition Association in January, 98% of meal program directors cited high ingredient costs as a barrier to consistently providing healthy, fresh meals for students. According to Healthy Eating Research, only 3% of U.S. schools in federal meal programs consistently serve freshly cooked meals as opposed to processed foods.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reimburses schools in federal meal programs for up to $4.70 per meal served, which is then divided between labor and ingredient costs.
Private schools with a larger budget sometimes serve healthier meals as far as students know. “Going to a public charter middle school and then coming to Urban, the lunches [here] are miles better in terms of health and taste. And [they are] much fresher,” Rio Cruz -Hunt ’26 said.
Students have noticed how FLIK serves nutritious meals with vegetables. “The lunches have healthy greens, and I enjoy the salads,” Esther Mortimore ’29 said.
FLIK employees Chef David Labao and his team design menus and cook Urban’s lunches fresh each day. “We’re using fresh fruits and vegetables. We use whole grains. We use lots of beans,” he said.
The FLIK staff also uses minimal amounts of sugar to cook school meals. In an email interview, Labao wrote that, excluding desserts, only sauces contain sugar, and in small amounts (with the exception of teriyaki sauce).
In addition to low-sugar meals, students have also noticed that FLIK strives to serve complete meals. Balanced meals can help heart health, boost your immune system and keep you energized. “[FLIK] always tries to give you your veggies, … your protein, your carbs. [That’s] a pretty well-balanced meal,” Mawa Silvestro ’26 said.
The FLIK staff occasionally incorporates less healthy school lunch foods into the menu. “Do we do mac and cheese? Yes. Do we do fried chicken sandwiches? Yes. But overall, I think our menu and our offerings are health conscious,” Labao said.
To many, FLIK lunches have another layer of importance. Henry Gwynne-Gersick ’27 said, “It’s important to have a lunch that we all eat, to bring us [together] as a community.”