School Food Appreciation

School food has notoriously been deemed “bad” within school systems, but why? Given an undeserving poor reputation, school lunch is something many kids take for granted.  

The complaints against food quality are thrown around without considering the staff to student ratio. With only 10 members, the Calloway lunch staff provides free breakfast and lunch for 866 students. While the number fluctuates sometimes to 6 or 7 due to quarantines, cafeteria staff still manage.  

Cafeteria staff member Amy Jones accredits the functionality of the department to teamwork, stating, “It’s hectic sometimes, but we pull it off through teamwork.” Holding the position for 14 years, Mrs. Jones has had her fair share of experiences working here at the high school. 

 As COVID took over the 2020-2021 school year, Mrs. Jones and staff were forced to adapt to an large scale change: three lunches. This change, along with masks, was especially stressful on those serving lunch. Mrs. Jones expressed her struggle of trying to hear kids through masks commenting that, “Trying to hear students’ lunch numbers through a mask in a busy lunchroom can be a pain.” Even after staff works as hard as they do, kids still don’t appreciate the service provided to them. 

While students are often put off by school food, the lunch staff is going above and beyond with their services. Offering four different lunch options, while managing to stay within the USDA’s requirements, is astounding to say the least. The list of school food requirements can be found at usda.gov under the “Nutrition Standards for School Meals” tab. Through further inspection of guidelines, Calloway manages each requirement while providing satisfactory meals. The meal staff here at our school makes the most out of the materials they are provided and deserve more gratitude than they are given. So, make sure to say thank you each time you go through the lunch line.