Substitutes

We all know that school lunches are not the healthiest things out there, although they still may taste good. I am not saying that I do not like a chicken patty now and then, but I think that they should replace some of these unhealthy things with better ones. For example, they could replace chicken patties with grilled chicken sandwiches, or something along those lines. Foods class is not the only place that children, especially elementary kids, should learn about healthy or practical eating for later in life. If people eat like they do in school for the rest of their life, they will not be healthy later in life and may develop many diseases. At this age people are generally more resilient and active, able to burn off the calories they consume, but it will not be that way forever. Especially during sports seasons, I know sometimes the lunches would give me a stomach ache or just not allow me to perform as well as I could; and I don’t have time to make a lunch at home. I went on college visits this weekend and their lunch program is set up where they pay so much a month and then can use that money to get whatever they want. And it is set up in a restaurant style so you can choose to go to the burger joint or the organic place. I realize that we do not have enough people in our school to sustain this type of lunch program but it makes me all the more excited to go to college.

Lines

What is the deal with these lines? This post is not really food related but it still concerns lunch time. Today it took me twenty minutes to get through the lunch line. And, with a thirty minute lunch that means you have to shovel in the food. Honestly, it shouldn’t take the lunch ladies that long to dish up some food. Besides that the line would move much quicker for me if people would learn some line etiquette. I mean, seriously, budging in line? What are we, in elementary school? You can talk to your friends once you sit down. I want my food too, dang it! And another thing, people need to get in the line that they are going through, not just get in the shorter line and switch sides once they get into the kitchen area. Its not fair to all of us who have been waiting. Is this asking too much?

Unordinary Lunches

So lunches are normally very predictable and ordinary, which is good to cater to everyone’s taste. From tacos to hamburgers and pizza, there is no eccentricity on your plate. But, last week they decided to serve spaghetti tacos. Now, I’m generally pretty adventurous when it comes to new foods but I was rather skeptical of this one. Lightly sauced spaghetti in a hard shell taco? It was extremely messy but it tasted better than I expected. Was anyone else taken aback by their menu choice last week or is it just me? At least they do not try to serve us fish like they do in Japan. Japanese school lunch usually consists of milk, rice, fish, salad, soup, and fruit. I think if they tried to serve fish in schools in the United States it would not go over well. I like sea food, if it is good quality; if a school were to buy and cook it I do not think that it would turn out well.

Apple Rant

Ok, so I know that the lunch program has certain standards that they have to meet but, how is wasting food a part of that? By allowing choices, some kids are able to buy a boat of fries and have just that for the afternoon. Not exactly healthy, not meeting any standards, yet they are allowed to do it. But, if you try to get a normal lunch and do not take enough from the salad bar, they make you take an apple as you check out so that it will count as a lunch as they can charge you as such. This makes sense in a way but if you did not take the fruit on your own, you clearly do not want to eat it; and will most likely end up throwing the whole thing away. I think that the lunch ladies should just charge you for a lunch because what you have already taken is what you are going to eat, by making you take that extra so that they can charge you for a lunch even though you just throw that away. They are not charging you extra; it is probably saving some by not having to pay for each thing individually. I have only had them tell me this once and I just complied because I wanted to sit down and eat, not have a lengthy conversation with her. Fortunately, one of my friends wanted it so I did not have to throw it away. Anyone else agree?

Choices

I was so excited once we got to middle school and had a choice in what we could eat for lunch. The ala carte line was long and slow but well worth the wait, especially when you see what is on the other side. Now days it does not seem to be quite as big of a deal that you can choose what to eat but, nonetheless, the ala carte line is still a great concept. The food may be slightly overpriced too, but it is usually good enough to make up for that fact. Personally, I rarely get food from this side but it still serves as a good fallback when they are serving unappetizing things in the normal line. Or, if you just need a day to feel like you are spoiling yourself. Speaking of which I really, really, like when they have special days where they get the chef to make food from other countries; it’s so good, and sometimes interesting too. I do not think anyone will disagree that the ala carte is a much appreciated choice provided by our school.

Good or Bad: Buying in Bulk

A lot of school lunches are things that the school orders and are already premade and frozen, only needing to be warmed up and served. Like pizza dippers. They come in huge sheets that are then heated and cut apart to be fed to us. This style of lunch is economically smart for the school but, is it smart for the students? To be eating all of those preservatives and whatever else the company adds. Obviously hot dogs are in this category of frozen food, but the thing about it is, why do they turn partially or all of the way green once they are cooked? It looks disgusting, but I still see people eating them. Is it the way that the kitchen staff cooks them, or do they just do that? Personally, I always go to the ala carte line when it is hot dog day.  Sometimes buying in large can be good, if the food at least tastes good. I am not complaining about the pizza dippers, I like those.  Obviously I think they should do something about their hot dogs, perhaps get them from a different company or cook them a different way to avoid the green coloration. Are there any other foods that you think should be cut or praised?

What constitutes as a 'lunch'?

What do you think of when you think of a school lunch? Some gelatanous mass that the lady in the hair net scooped onto your tray? Well maybe not all of the time. Our high school's food is a big improvement from our previous school where they overcook veggies everyday and find a way to burn tomato soup; serously, we were in grade school and the whole friggin cafiteria smelled terribly of burn soup, on top of that it tasted terrible. Except for the yellow sponges that the cooks call 'eggs', our high school's food isn't that bad, or is it? After eating the cantalope yesterday, I hear on the news that there is an outbreak of some disease in cantalope in Wisconsin. Doesn't that make you feel safe?