While school food isn’t exactly known for being gourmet, some of the food schools offer to students is gross and sometimes downright inedible. Most schools fail to comply with statewide nutrition standards, and often serve expired food. School lunches make up a large part of daily calories. If school lunches aren’t held to a higher standard, kids will throw them out leaving them without an important meal.

According to hechingerreport.org, only 7% of schools in America meet all the nutritional requirements in their state. Not only that, but 43% of lunch items are processed and low quality. In Roseville during 2021, students were fed expired meat and sunflower seeds. While some have the time and money to pack school lunches, not everybody is as fortunate. Many kids will throw away school food they find to be disgusting or inedible, leaving them hungry.

 

Food fed to students at school can leave a lifelong impact on their palate. If schools feed students fresh and nutritious meals, they will feel inclined to eat healthier foods later on in life. As stated in healthyschoolscampaign.org, “Nutritious school food helps students develop lifelong healthy eating habits.”

 

The Expedition sent a survey to advisories where students anonymously shared their opinions on the school food at Westlake Charter High School (WCHS). Multiple students reported finding bugs in their food, as well as expired milk. Many students also found their grapes were moldy and their food was not prepared properly. Many also expressed concern about the length of the lunch lines, stating that many resorted to cutting to avoid the long wait times.

 

Westlake can learn from student feedback and take steps to improve the quality of school lunch and the lunch period in general. First off, multiple lunch lines would save students plenty of time they could be spending eating. Food should also be served fresh and not past its best by date. School food should also be occasionally taste tested to ensure it is quality enough to serve to students.

 

In conclusion, school food is extremely important to students’ well being and should be taken seriously by schools. Read more articles like this at The Expedition.