Are Our School Lunches Satisfying Students?

School lunches. Many people may buy lunch from the cafeteria every day, but many others have never had a single school bought lunch in their lives! Our question is what exactly does the school really think their students want to eat for lunch? Is our school missing the mark?

School lunches have officially been around for a long time. The National School Lunch Act was established and signed by President Harry Truman in 1946. The Act was designed with the best intentions to make sure all children had access to meals. The Act reads, “Lunches served by schools participating in the school lunch program under this Act shall meet minimum nutritional requirements prescribed by the Secretary on the basis of tested nutritional research” (USDA). Therefore, according to this Act, the lunches have to be somewhat nutritional. 

Since then, lunches have changed A LOT and now we have a lot more food options. Just in the 7th grade Journalism class, 25% of people buy lunch sometimes, 18.8% buy lunch every day. Many students don’t buy lunch, just buy snacks from the lunch room. Mrs. Becky says Bostco sticks and popcorn chicken are the most popular items bought at lunch.

We talked to students here at West Middle School, and we got a lot of mixed reviews about our school’s food. Some students responses were that they wanted “better meat and corn dogs” served at West. Some students want “more nutritional salads”. It seems that the lunches have a routine and repeat the same schedule. Many students want more lunch options. 

Overall, school lunches are very important to many schools because they nourish children. They are also a big lifesaver if you forget your lunch at home or lose it during the school day. In our research, we found that students would eat more hot lunch and buy it more often if they enjoyed the options all the time. So remember your voice can be heard! Tell the school what you would buy if only it was offered!