What’s that mystery meat on your plate? From brick breadsticks and steamed vegetables to canned fruits and soggy hot dogs, students have been known to question what’s being served and whether it’s healthy enough. These balanced, low-cost, or free school lunches were created under the National School Lunch Program, a federal program operating in public and non-profit schools.
School meals must meet minimum program requirements of having enough fruits, veggies, grains, protein, and dairy, but portion sizes may be too much or too little for students’ liking. These requirements reflect on students who think the school lunches lack flavor and taste or are clearly overly processed/pre-made. However, many students enjoy the school lunch prepared for them, and many kids depend on these meals every day.
“It’s usually between 300-400 [students], sometimes more than that, depending on the meal,” cafeteria cook Amber Tucker said.
What’s being served on your plate? Many students nitpick every piece of food right down to the core of an apple and feel that the cafeteria food could (and perhaps should) improve. Schools should bring more variety to the table and focus more on healthiness instead of meeting minimum standards. Many students turn to bringing a packed lunch to school instead of subjecting themselves to school lunches and questioning the mystery meat on their plates.
“A lot of schools are just focusing on the calories instead of the actual healthiness,” junior Clementine Diamond-Ortiz said. “I’ve noticed that a lot, and that’s why I just bring a packed lunch.”
Although some students agree that schools have added more variety to the lunch menu, students still feel that the food served doesn’t taste (or look) like food. Students continue to bring home-cooked lunches to school instead of wasting money on food they are not interested in.
“They’ve added food, like the orange chicken with rice, and I’ve noticed that the rice completely has no flavor,” Diamond-Ortiz said. “I only have leftovers because the cafeteria food, to me, is so disgusting that I could never eat it.”
Students like Diamond-Ortiz feel serving unhealthy food will cause them to choose unhealthy options instead of better ones throughout their lives. The rise of this concern leads to the question of whether or not schools should stop focusing on meeting the requirements, such as the calories, and instead focus on the quality of what students are eating.
“No student will ever choose an apple over a pizza slice,” Diamond-Ortiz said.
On the other hand, some students feel the school lunch is exceptional and not unhealthy. Although some feel there should be more variety, students like Camelia Reali have favorites like the burger and their least favorites like the turkey leg. Depending on what’s being served, students don’t always have an issue with the food quality.
“Some days it’s good, some days it’s bad,” Reali said.
There may be many different opinions on school lunches, but it takes time to prepare all these meals for the students who depend on them. Lunch ladies like Tucker feel the food served is good quality, especially for students who prefer healthier options. Salads and other healthy options are available, giving students more of a decision.
“For the most part, everything I’ve tried myself is not bad tasting,” Tucker said. “I like what they’re serving. They give healthy options by putting salad as one of the options.”
Students will continue to question the food served at school and ask for better options. However, showing kindness and gratitude to the lunch ladies who dedicate their time to feeding students is appreciated by lunch ladies like Tucker.
“Almost everyone is very polite,” Tucker said. “It’s always ‘Yes, ma’am,’ ‘thank you, ma’am,’ and ‘please.'”
Every student needs fuel to make it through their classes each day. While perhaps not preferred, the school lunch program ensures that students have the nutrients necessary to learn, succeed, and grow throughout their time in the education system.
