The Cutlass : School lunches undergo more change

Haley Marconett, Opinion Editor
September 25, 2012
Filed under Opinion

Along with all of the other changes in the school this year, the school lunches have undergone a makeover. Some students may enjoy this change, but the vast majority of the school says that with all of the other changes going on, school lunches should have at least stayed the same.

Last year, Michelle Obama instituted a new healthy eating plan for schools, which Belton picked up and has used ever since. This plan tries to ensure that kids get more fruits and/or vegetables and nutrients while taking in less fats. That was last year, and things were all fine and dandy. However, this year the school has tried to institute a new rule that forces kids to get at least one fruit or vegetable: this is where the problem resides for students.

At the beginning of every school year, students find that prices for school lunch rises. Not only that, but throughout the years, what has been served has dramatically changed. While the most popular main course used to be flat, rectangular slices of pizza, it has now changed to semi-greasy, triangular ?real? pizza. Not only that, but lunch items used to change around each day, now it?s basically the same set up monday through friday, with no variation.

Standard lunch for this school year is chicken nuggets, pizza, or nachos for the main course; mashed potatoes or scalloped potatoes for the side dish; and either a cup of fruit juice, bananas, or apples for our required fruit. The problem with this is that the school lunches aren?t changing throughout the week as they usually do. It?s predictable, which makes students want to bring their own lunch because frankly, those options just aren?t very appealing to most.

Along with the lack of variation in the lunch options, the new rule that students have to get a fruit or vegetable has gotten out of hand. Within the first week of school, who knows just how much food was wasted by disrespectful students who felt the need to openly make their opinion known by throwing their fruit straight into the trash as they left the lunch line. The idea behind the new rule was a good one, but all students just aren?t going to handle being told what they can and cannot get. There are so many people that could have been helped with the fruit wasted in the first week, it could have been donated to a homeless shelter in the Kansas City area instead.

The rumors that were spread around by students about the fruit rule were ridiculous, and who knows if they are even true? One of the more outstanding topics of conversation in the first week of school was that if students don?t get a fruit, they get charged more for their lunch. This enraged students, should they not be able to buy what they want with their money? School lunches now allow students to get one main course, one side dish, one fruit/vegetable, and one drink. Students aren?t allowed to substitute their fruit for another side dish. Here lies another problem and complaint by students.

The kitchen staff has been trying hard to make things more efficient and run smoother in the lunchroom. They now pre-dish the sides out, which makes things run better, but students also find something wrong with this idea. The potatoes will harden from sitting out for so long which makes the one side option that students do get, even less appealing. They have also been pre-dishing the fruits and stacking things nicely. Things in the kitchen seem to run much more smoothly than in previous years, which is something to be thankful for.

With the end of the first quarter quickly approaching, it?s hard for students to appreciate the small things the the school is trying accomplish. The fruit rule was put in place to try to make students healthier. The kitchen staff has been pre-dishing sides and fruits to try and make things run more smoothly for students and themselves. The extra work and extra thought put into these rules and regulations should far outweigh the annoyance that students have with the lunches. As the year moves on, students will adjust and become accustomed to the new ways of the lunchroom.

Source: http://www.bhscutlass.com/opinion/2012/09/25/school-lunches-undergo-more-change/

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