School lunch isn’t worth the long line, but is substantial enough to get students through the day.
Between the hours of 12:30 p.m. and 12:50 p.m., the MUR fills with hungry students waiting in long lines to get their lunch. As someone who generally doesn’t eat lunch at school, I decided to try a few of the school lunch options throughout the week to see if the long lines were worth the wait. I also have decided to rate a few of my favorite school lunch items.
Every student in the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD) is allowed to have one breakfast meal and one lunch meal at no cost thanks to the California Universal Meals Program. For many, school food is their first meal of the day which means that it should be something nutritious that will help them get through the day. The one meal I almost always eat at school is brunch. The options are limited, however one’s expectations can’t be too high when it comes to school food. I will now go into some depth about my personal favorite brunch items.
Pillsbury Dough Mini Cinnis:
These are served super warm and in a sort of bar form but can be pulled apart into little bite-size pieces. Filled with delicious cinnamon sugar filling, it is like taking a bite out of a cinnamon roll. I give this brunch item a 10/10.
Sausage and Cheese Sliders:
At first glance, these sliders might not be something everyone would want to eat, but these are my absolute favorite items on the brunch menu. They’re warm and the fact that they don’t have eggs in them makes them better to me since I’m not a huge fan of eggs. I’ll even take a ketchup packet and put some on there to make it even better; an easy 10/10 menu item.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie:
This cookie is the perfect size and isn’t like a regular old oatmeal cookie. The chocolate chips make it even better and are also filled with fiber so it makes it a bit healthy. I give this cookie a 9/10.
As for lunch, there aren’t always great alternatives like there is with brunch for the main item being served. Last week I tried the school lunch four out of the five days.
Monday: Veggie Pizza
This pizza was different from the one that’s usually served on Fridays. It had bell peppers, onion, and tomato which was a nice variety. I didn’t find anything special about this pizza, but it was pretty good, so I gave it an 8/10.
Tuesday: Pulled Pork Sandwich
This sandwich was my least favorite meal of the week. It was soggy and the flavor was lacking, so I rated this a 5/10.
Thursday: Kick’n Burger
This burger was one of the lunches I had tried before and I really liked it. It isn’t spicy at all which contradicts its name, but with some ketchup on top, it makes it even better. I rated this an 8.5/10.
Friday: Pizza Day
Finally, Friday, of course, was pizza (pepperoni, to be exact), and to be honest, it was really mediocre. I’ve never seen the appeal to it after having tried it before, so I gave this a 7/10.
Out of all of the food I tried, I’ve concluded that there’s one issue I, along with sophomore Aadi Soond, agreed that there is about the school lunch.
“I think the line management issue is probably one of the biggest things holding people back [from eating cafeteria lunch],” Soond said. “You’ll wait in line, you wouldn’t even get anything good, and everyone’s just cutting in front.”
This is one of the things that, to me, didn’t seem worth it to wait in line. Aside from this, the nutritional value is lacking in many of these foods considering they are mostly processed. Although fruits and vegetables are offered as an extra side you can take, many don’t. For developing teens, what we put in our bodies is extremely crucial which is why I feel that enforcing healthy eating besides just burgers and pizza is key.
