F E AT U R E
(SCHOOL)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
BY JENNA WANG
It’s about that time. Your stomach is rumbling. You’re quickly packing up your oh-so-heavy backpack, hurriedly stuffing your crumpled homework into a folder as you walk outside the classroom. It’s packed. It’s suffocating. You get shoved into plenty of times. Still, you move on, desperate to win the race. Jump down the stairs. Speed past the awfully slow person. Sweat dripping down your cheek and nose. Round the sharp corner. Finally, you see that large lunchroom. You step in and you find a long-winding line, filled with the annoying and rude cutters. An interesting, funny odor. You grab your food an eternity later. What’s in this weird heap? Where did this pile come from? Maybe you shouldn’t have ran down to the lunchroom so soon. You walk to the overflowing garbage can. Just about every one of the 30 million students who eat school lunch every day around the nation and at West High have faced this moment
A kitchen staff member prepares hashbrowns to be served at lunch
This act has also sprung many of the rumors and myths about school lunches that roam the halls of West High today.They are ingrained in most students from the books and movies that promote school lunches as being unhealthy, as well as the spread of made-up rumors created by students. The question is: Just how many of these rumors are true? Here is a list of things every student should know about the food at West High.
Storage area for food to be sent out to elementary schools
when their stomach says yes and then instantly says no. Most schools try their hardest to make lunches the healthiest and most appetizing, so the real question is, why do most students dislike school lunches? Zhihui Chen ’20 believes that taste and the ingredients are the reason for the untouched food. "The food tastes horrible and the ingredients are bad. They are made of frozen and canned items." Students who dislike school lunches can thank the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which went into effect in 2012 and restricts schools from only serving food such as salty French fries and greasy pizza. Foods must be lower in fat, calories, and sodium and contain more of the proteins, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. According to food and nutrition directors nationwide, the results of this act are overflowing trash cans and financial drops. The School Nutrition Association reported than more than 70 percent of lunch programs have taken a significant drop since the new acts went into effect.
54 FEATURE DECEMBER 2016 WSSPAPER.COM
Rumor: The food comes from unhealthy locations. Bust: “Martin Brothers is our prime vendor and they supply the majority of our ingredients. We also receive food through the USDA commodity program and we buy local produce through Farm to School when it’s available.” -Alison Demory, ICCSD Food and Nutrition Director Rumor: All food comes prepackaged and stored at the beginning of the year Bust: Deliveries come twice a week from the Martin Brothers vendor.