Countless Students Crave Better Meal Options in the Cafeteria
Campus community gives feedback on school lunches hoping for more nutritious and tasty meals.
By Daniele Oliker
Campus community gives feedback on school lunches hoping for more nutritious and tasty meals.
By Daniele Oliker
The topic of school lunches has been debated for a long time with students, parents and teachers on the nutritional values, taste and overall quality of the meals served in the cafeteria.
Every day, an average of 475 students pickup their meals from the lunch lines, but many have concerns surrounding the school lunches' taste and nutritional quality of the food being served on the menu. Students’ perspectives hold great importance in helping to create more enjoyable school meal choices. The school lunches include chicken sandwiches, pizza, burgers, nachos, salads and many other additional options. There are provided sides of vegetables and fruits that staff encourage students to take with them.
Some students, such as Katelyn Flett, 11, feel that the lunches provided by the school don’t meet her expectations for taste and aren’t enjoyable.
“I don’t think the school lunches taste very good. I don’t have the time to bring my own lunches from home, so I resort to eating food from the cafeteria,” said Flett.
Other students, such as Presley Taylor, 11, feel that school lunches are to her liking and a great resource for people who don’t have access to their own meals.
“I think the school lunches are nice because they are free and accessible to students who don’t have the luxury of bringing their own food from home,” said Taylor.
Despite the school lunches being free and accessible to all students, some still choose to bring their own food from home, like student Elle Stansberry, 12.
“I like bringing lunch from home better because I get to choose what I want to eat for the day and I know exactly what I’m putting in my body to help keep me energized throughout my school day,” said Stansberry.
The staff working the school cafeteria help serve student’s lunches, but they don’t make the decisions on what food is being served, according to Head Manager of the cafeteria Edna Obeso.
“Our menu is chosen by nutritionists and dietitians so we don’t make the options, they do. Students giving input on what changes they want to see would help us,” said Obeso.
Not all students feel the school lunches are accommodating according to Gavin Ramsey, 11, who hopes the menu improves and will include more enjoyable options.
“I think the lunches would be better if the school provided more options. Every week the menu is almost the same as the week before. If there were more choices to choose from, students would have the opportunity to pick a meal that they actually enjoy,” Ramsey said.
Many students also seem to believe the food being served is unhealthy, this is not the case according to Director of Student Nutrition Services Janet Wolk, who guarantees the meals provided for students are in fact healthy.
“We ensure that all menu options follow the National School Lunch Program Meal Pattern which aligns with the nutrition guidelines for Americans,” said Wolk.
But there are ways to improve the opinions on the meals served in the cafeteria according to Flett.
“I think since most students just assume the school lunches are unhealthy based on opinions, if the district or school made more of an effort to inform students on the nutritional value of the food, more people would most likely eat them,” said Flett.
Along with advertising the nutritional value of the school meals, students’ input on the food’s taste could be beneficial for the school according to Ramsey.
“If the school took more students’ feedback into consideration and made changes, I feel like most students would use the resource of a free meal,” said Ramsey.
Helpful critique on the school's lunch menu will help expand the meal choices and create a pathway to a more enjoyable lunch experience for students.
“Students giving feedback would help us decide on what options we have on the menu. Them giving us their input would be greatly appreciated,” said Obeso.
Every day, an average of 475 students pickup their meals from the lunch lines, but many have concerns surrounding the school lunches' taste and nutritional quality of the food being served on the menu. Students’ perspectives hold great importance in helping to create more enjoyable school meal choices. The school lunches include chicken sandwiches, pizza, burgers, nachos, salads and many other additional options. There are provided sides of vegetables and fruits that staff encourage students to take with them.
Some students, such as Katelyn Flett, 11, feel that the lunches provided by the school don’t meet her expectations for taste and aren’t enjoyable.
“I don’t think the school lunches taste very good. I don’t have the time to bring my own lunches from home, so I resort to eating food from the cafeteria,” said Flett.
Other students, such as Presley Taylor, 11, feel that school lunches are to her liking and a great resource for people who don’t have access to their own meals.
“I think the school lunches are nice because they are free and accessible to students who don’t have the luxury of bringing their own food from home,” said Taylor.
Despite the school lunches being free and accessible to all students, some still choose to bring their own food from home, like student Elle Stansberry, 12.
“I like bringing lunch from home better because I get to choose what I want to eat for the day and I know exactly what I’m putting in my body to help keep me energized throughout my school day,” said Stansberry.
The staff working the school cafeteria help serve student’s lunches, but they don’t make the decisions on what food is being served, according to Head Manager of the cafeteria Edna Obeso.
“Our menu is chosen by nutritionists and dietitians so we don’t make the options, they do. Students giving input on what changes they want to see would help us,” said Obeso.
Not all students feel the school lunches are accommodating according to Gavin Ramsey, 11, who hopes the menu improves and will include more enjoyable options.
“I think the lunches would be better if the school provided more options. Every week the menu is almost the same as the week before. If there were more choices to choose from, students would have the opportunity to pick a meal that they actually enjoy,” Ramsey said.
Many students also seem to believe the food being served is unhealthy, this is not the case according to Director of Student Nutrition Services Janet Wolk, who guarantees the meals provided for students are in fact healthy.
“We ensure that all menu options follow the National School Lunch Program Meal Pattern which aligns with the nutrition guidelines for Americans,” said Wolk.
But there are ways to improve the opinions on the meals served in the cafeteria according to Flett.
“I think since most students just assume the school lunches are unhealthy based on opinions, if the district or school made more of an effort to inform students on the nutritional value of the food, more people would most likely eat them,” said Flett.
Along with advertising the nutritional value of the school meals, students’ input on the food’s taste could be beneficial for the school according to Ramsey.
“If the school took more students’ feedback into consideration and made changes, I feel like most students would use the resource of a free meal,” said Ramsey.
Helpful critique on the school's lunch menu will help expand the meal choices and create a pathway to a more enjoyable lunch experience for students.
“Students giving feedback would help us decide on what options we have on the menu. Them giving us their input would be greatly appreciated,” said Obeso.