A taste for school lunches

School lunch consists of a meal with a fruit or vegetable and milk. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began school lunch has been offered free of charge for all students. The debate over the quality of school lunch is as old as time.

“We get enough food for lunch because it goes over the essentials,” said junior Zach Nelson. “But it would be nice to add a cookie, chips/crackers, or even fruit snacks.”

 Senior Chacona Stokes sees positives and negatives to school lunches.

“I like that the lunches are various and have healthy options, but I don’t like that the food can be cold and lack flavor sometimes,” said Stokes.

According to the Chef Ann Foundation, which is “dedicated to empowering schools nationwide with the tools, training, resources, and funding they need to serve meals”  meals should include the five meal components: meat, grain/bread, vegetables, fruit and milk. 

Variety is key. 

“I would like the option of having apple juice or water because I don’t like drinking milk with certain meals,” said junior Jaeden Last.

Nelson wishes there were more options like “chicken, pretzels, fajitas, or nachos.”

Which lunch a student has also impacts their options.

“The worst thing about lunch is that by the third or fourth lunch, the options are extremely limited and the food is usually cold,” said junior Elizabeth Woge. “The best thing about school lunches is that it ensures all students have the opportunity to get a meal.”

Even though thousands of meals are made for students everyday, the debate about the quality of school lunch is likely to go on indefinitely.