Students rely on the cafeteria to buy breakfast, lunch, and snacks during school hours. While some believe the food at LM not to be sufficiently nutritious, I believe that LM is already putting sufficient effort into serving nourishing meals and snacks at school, and they shouldn’t focus on implementing more health conscious foods because of cost and limited appeal.
Having more health conscious options in the cafeteria may seem like a good idea in theory, but is revealed not to be when one of the factors is financial considerations. Whole grains, lean proteins, and organic produce are more expensive to acquire because they are of higher quality compared to refined grains and non-organic produce. Healthier products require less alterations to get processed, so it becomes more expensive to produce and distribute rather than processed foods which are made in bulk. At LM, the cafeteria serves acai bowls regularly, which is a “healthier” meal, but each bowl costs seven dollars. On the other hand, a meal like chicken fingers and fries only costs four dollars. Healthier meals cost more, and the portion size of the acai bowl is smaller than you would expect for the price. The bowls are being marketed primarily to the wealthier student population. Not everyone can justify spending that much on something that might not even fill them up.
Healthier meals are not only more expensive, but they can also be less appetizing. Some high school students might not be familiar with eating healthier foods, especially if they’re accustomed to purchasing less nutritious meals. This is likely due to the fact that, most of the time, nutritious meals have a bland taste due to the lack of salt or additives. It’s definitely better for you, but students want to eat something with flavor that’s savory and tastes good. It’s not logical to replace a well-liked meal with a healthier version that will likely go uneaten and be wasted.
It’s important to recognize that most meals and snacks served in the cafeteria aren’t especially unhealthy. There’s a salad bar, sandwiches, assorted pizza, a hot and cold line, and much more. Common entrees of the day include chipotle, panda express, or cava fusion bowls, cheesesteak, chicken or veggie chicken and waffles, etc. Most of the meals have a whole grain version and the chicken is baked, not fried. As I stated before, they also serve acai bowls frequently, and every Thursday there is sushi! Most snacks are the whole grain versions too, like the poptarts, chips, and rice krispies. While there may be some unhealthy snacks, like gummies or cookies, these treats are perfectly safe to enjoy in moderation. The school puts in a lot of effort to create appetizing meals that are nutritious and flavorful. The main entrees are very creative, and there’s not much else the school could implement that’s more health conscious than what’s already being served.
LM should not focus on implementing more health conscious meals in the cafeteria. The cost doesn’t outweigh the benefits in this scenario, as there would be increased expenses for food that may not be eaten, which would result in waste of money and nourishment. Also, there is already a variety of nourishing and appealing meals being served at LM. It would be too costly and require too much effort to create alternate meals that will be slightly healthier. Making the lunches more healthy is great in theory, but when you consider the implications of such an effort, it truly isn’t practical.
