There are many things you could criticize East about, and the school lunch surely is one of them.

The school food isn’t really up to par for the area we live in. Select options are mediocre at best, but definitely not anyone’s first choice for an ideal lunch. Most kids don’t have time to eat breakfast in the morning, and because we aren’t permitted food in class, we are dependent on the twenty minute lunch break to scarf down whatever we’ve got.

The students that don’t bring food from home are probably doing one of three things: buying a passable meal that they’ve grown accustomed to eating, getting a small snack from the vending machines, or not eating lunch at all.

If the school provided a better lunch, not only would it benefit financially, but students would be getting better, higher quality meals that would be healthier in the long run.

Pictured above is the highly appetizing Chicken Mac and Cheese Pizza. Needless to say, the meal has virtually no nutritional value, as the buildup of grease in the mound of cheese speaks for itself. The matter is, Chicken Mac and Cheese Pizza has the potential to look and taste good, but our school chose to invest in what may just as well be the worst version possible. The exotic twist on Italian cuisine is just one example of how high the district’s expectations are for what students should be consuming.

Setting aside the food quality, the prices are unreasonable. Granola bars sell for about 95 cents each, 10 cents more expensive than last year. Welch’s Fruit Snacks are $1.25 a pop. Students don’t need to be the dumping ground for our country’s debts. If the school is trying to make a profit then they shouldn’t bump up the prices of the name brand snacks, but instead make higher quality main courses that students would be more willing to purchase.

East needs to invest in better food options that don’t look repulsive and that contain fresher ingredients. Just as the school requires students to participate in physical education classes to emphasize the importance of exercise, healthy eating habits that students could use throughout their lifetime should also be encouraged.