By Nico King Gile,
Staff Writer.
Often people leave lunch feeling hungry, and while they’re happy to have a free lunch or snack from the cafeteria, they find themselves wishing for more. Many want something more fulfilling to consume, as school food tends to be smaller in portions and lower in quality than food from home.
Senior Gaspar Mahe said, “The food portions are way too small; we want more food.” This sentiment is very common among students. The lack of adequate portions creates another issue of students taking more food than they are meant to get. Mahe explained that he sees people grabbing extra “all the time.” The school struggles to deal with this problem because it has little money to spend on cafeteria workers, much less watchers.
There is a reason for this: they have a minimal amount of money to spend on meals. Students get free meals because of the state of California government and federal funding, but in total they only provide $4.54 per lunch. On top of this, that money has to provide for the food workers too. This shockingly low amount of money shows why the portions are often so small; that’s about the price of a fiesta bag of Takis.
The disappointing part is that a lot of students don’t know how hard the staff work to provide the most food they can under such a tight budget. Mahe said that he had “no idea” of any of the struggles surrounding the cafeteria.
The effect of it is particularly pronounced on those who otherwise wouldn’t have a meal. A great deal of studies have shown that consistent and healthy sources of food like those provided by school lunches and breakfasts improve mood, grades and even high school pass rates. The cafeteria food most impacts those who have no other options: people of lower income.
While it’s often disappointing how small our cafeteria portions are, it’s important to remember how much goes into it. If we want it to be better the place to change that is on a state and federal level. Sadly, the federal program for free and reduced school lunches, which pays for a large portion of our school lunches is going to be harder to access due to a reduction in medicare and snap eligibility. So for now, the future may not be bigger.
