What's In a School Lunch?

As soon as the bell rings hundreds of students all rush to the same place. Where is that place? The cafeteria. The cafeteria is a place to catch up with friends, quickly finish up last night's homework, but most importantly it is a place to relieve your hunger and eat some lunch.

Sometimes I wonder if whatever is being served in the cafeteria should really constitute as a meal. Even though breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day, lunch is what gets students through the rest of the school day and through the afternoon. Typically I do not think that the school provides a sufficient healthy meal for students.

There are many instances in which I go to the cafeteria for lunch absolutely starving and there is not much of anything that would truly fill me up. Being an athlete I burn a lot of calories and like to watch what I eat. One Subway sandwich and a carton of milk is not going to get me through afternoon practice. Buy something extra you say? In my opinion you shouldn't have to pay extra just to fill yourself up. We are very fortunate at Kennedy that we have so many lunch options. Most of these options though aren't a full meal.

I'm not going to lie every now and then a slice of pizza, cheeseburger, or chicken sandwich sounds good and I'm willing to pay extra for it. But most of the time there aren't many side options such as fruit or vegetables with these choices. So then we get back to the situation in which one slice of pizza isn't going to fill me up.

I've gotten to the point in which almost everyday I just head straight to the main line. Why you might ask? This is nearly the only line in which I can almost be guaranteed a vegetable and a fruit. I believe that teenagers can't get enough of their fruits and vegetables and they should be more readily available. When I am able to eat a fruit and vegetable I actually feel like I am eating a real meal.

So what's in a school lunch anymore? I don't even know if I can answer that question. Just today the main dish was nachos, is that considered a meal now? Not in my opinion. Or what about the popular Italian Dunkers, cheese bread dipped in marinara sauce, how is that considered a meal? I just wish that something could be done and there could be more healthy and complete meals available at school for lunch.