Every day, students have around 40 minutes to eat lunch. Some students eat from the cafeteria because they can’t afford food at home or they do not have time to prepare any. The average student has a good experience with the food because of its convenience and quality, but some find it more of a hassle to find something that will not kill them.
Allergies are simple but dangerous, and it is not fair for only certain people to be able to eat at the cafeteria. It may be possible to find things to eat when the menu changes, but even that is not 100% safe.
“It’s alienating not being able to go to the cafeteria and grab a snack every once in a while,” senior Kayleigh Rosinski said. “Even just having a little snack stand or trying to just maybe get one option with maybe one or two allergies that are not included would be nice.”
The goal of high schools today is to be inclusive toward the entire student body, yet it feels like the food has only gotten better, not more accessible. Compared to previous years, there are more options available, and nutrition facts are provided, but there still are not specific allergy-friendly meals.
“It’s probably this way because of cross-contamination,” senior Miriam Archer said.
It is a big problem in every school and there are ways to prevent it, but our school does not seem to be willing to.
The high school offers allergen information for what foods during the week may contain. It provides the necessary information to eat safely, but it doesn’t seem like there are plans to make more options for students with allergies.
“If you wanted to get a point across to the people who make the decisions about policies, the board of education and the board meetings are probably the best places to express that,” dean of students Chris Klein said.
In the future, if this issue gets more publicity, the school board in the community can create a solution, but until then, students must be made aware of this issue.
Hopefully, we can find a way to make school food available to students regardless of their allergies, and they will not have to worry about what is safe in the cafeteria.
