Cafeteria Chaos

Many Hartland High School students are outraged with the recent implications on school lunch.

“I am extremely dissatisfied…it’s a slap in the face to my intelligence,” senior Johny Moraitis said.

In the rare occasion that a student hasn’t heard or been affected by these changes he or she may be informed that many of the popular food choices and serving sizes are not as they have been in years past. Appearing to be the most dramatic issue is that the cookies have been removed. Being that the goal of these changes is to promote more nutritious eating it is ironic and absurd that even healthy-choice options including the salad bar have been swiftly removed.

Although many would disagree, there are some positive outcomes.

“We have an obligation to provide options that are healthy, doing school hours,” School Counselor Erica Empie said. Yet in contrast, “I don’t like now that when you go to get from the deli line they don’t have as many fruit choices,” Empie said.

When interviewing Empie, she focused on the concept that there can be a balance incorporating student choice and healthiness. The bottom line is that both administrators and students are unhappy with the transition to “healthy” school lunch options.

Among the many who do not favor these government implications is Hartland High School Principal Benjamin Mainka. “The regulations are far too extreme…I don’t think you can regulate what a person eats,” Mainka said. He believes that students should have a choice to eat, but within certain parameters.

The bottom line is that although there are some advantages to this new action, the majority of people are highly unsatisfied. Since there is no real effective way to amend this, many, including Moraitis and Empie agree that there can be a balance. Seeing that high school students are young adults, a popular suggestion is to alter just elementary and possible middle school lunches but to allow high school students to be free to choose their own foods, and accordingly, yield their own consequences.

Shown is a cluster of pre-bagged, pre packaged vegetables and fruit in Harland High School’s cafeteria. These healthy options replaced the beloved fruit and veggie bar and greatly restricted students’ choices.

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