It has been a long, grueling task to battle through the first day of school, made bearable by the kind of hope that only lunch can inspire. Having syllabus after syllabus whipped at my head and clawing my way through congested hallways leaves my stomach roaring for a good meal. I am just dying to sink my teeth into some wholesome, delicious, five star cafeteria food—braised pork loin with a side of tater tots, Bosco sticks filled with imported cheese, and Big Daddy pizza piled high with caviar.
That’s when the high pitched “What?!” of a hysterical girl pierces through the clamor of the lunchroom and nearly ruptures my left eardrum. I turn in time to see her digging her nails into her face in agony, just before collapsing to the ground.
A teacher leaps to her aid and tries to revive her while a crowd draws around. But everything around me shrinks away as my attention is seized by what has caused all of the commotion—a simple sheet of paper tacked to the bulletin board. It reads “School lunch: $2.50.”
Tragic, fabricated scenes like this are occurring all over the school district. For all students in the fifth grade or lower, lunch prices were raised to $2.20. Middle school and high school students are facing prices as high as $2.50. Such little notice was given as to the price increase, that there are still students who are entirely unaware of the change.
“They raised the lunch prices?” said Alex Carpenter, in regard to the price.
The Board of Education approved this ludicrous increase as a result of new federal regulations from the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which is supposed to set a higher nutritional standard nationwide. While the intentions of this decision are well-placed, the overall approach has just been sloppy.
For instance, the healthier lunch options found at the salad bar are not even mentioned in the nutritional facts on the district website. Apparently, everyone is expected to blindly take on a bigger expense for the few who benefit from some salad.
And of course, in regard to the issue of the money, I find it rather difficult to understand how we should be the ones impacted by the cost of a meal when the act is supposed to allow funding for federal school meal programs and make healthy food more accessible to low-income students. Because it makes excellent sense that the state should enforce healthy eating habits with the use of our parents’ money.
If a student buys lunch at $2.50 for all one hundred seventy-nine days of school, approximately $447.50 will be spent by the end of the year. With last year’s lunch cost at $2.25, the same amount of lunches would add up to $402.75. A difference of nearly $50 makes a huge difference to struggling families in these hard times, especially to those with more than one child in school.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act upholds the goals of reducing child obesity rates and increasing the number of students who can be a part of meal programs, which is perfectly admirable. But how have the achievements of these goals been manifested in Huntley High School? A salad bar.
Perhaps the district can think of more ways to improve nutrition for students instead of draining everyone’s wallet for some lettuce.
Post Author: Katherine Enciso. Katherine Enciso is a staff writer for The Voice. She is 17 year-old senior who is involved in choir and theatre.