hSchool lunch prices have substantially risen and there is still no apparent change in the quality of the food being served. The portions have stayed the same size and it seems as if our school is trying a little too hard to make us all eat healthy. Students have 25 minutes to eat; however, by the time students get to the cafeteria, get their food and sit down, they only have around 10 minutes to eat. There are some imperfections in our school’s current lunch system that need to be improved. 

While observing first and second lunch you would notice long, slow moving lines, students cutting in front of classmates, and extreme crowding and disorder in the serving area. Because of this chaos and disorder, students rush to get to their tables. As a result of these rushed lunches, students are extremely careless when it comes to cleaning up their messes. Students spill their drinks all over tables, make messes at the coffee station and have no intent to clean any of it up. “If you spill it, clean it up! It really isn’t that hard,” says senior Erica Lynch.

Many students have been concerned with the food that has been served lately in our school cafeteria. In the serving area you can frequently hear people making comments like, “Ugh, I’m not eating that!" “There’s nothing good to eat here!” and sometimes, “This food stinks."  Many meals served at the school are clearly not cooked enough to enjoy.  Soggy French fries are being served, as well as undercooked and overcooked pasta.  There is so much food being produced that it does not get cooked to a satisfying extent.

“Our school lunches are decent; they are better than some other schools,” says Kelsey Evans, a senior at Ipswich High school.

I.H.S. has been trying to make the students eat healthier by taking away certain items or replacing them. The pasta at the pasta bar has been replaced with all whole grain pasta, the patty buns are whole grain, and the bagels are now whole wheat.  Students should be able to have the choice to put salt on their food if they want it. Some meals require salt to make them taste good like French fries, rice, and the macaroni and cheese. “You can not give us pepper and not salt!” says senior Hayley Martin. 

Yes, school lunches should be healthy, but to an extent.  There are obvious signs of obesity in our country today and it is understood that IHS is trying to prevent that. However, our young bodies are still growing and our metabolisms are fast.  We do not really need to be cutting that many calories quite yet.

It is apparent that IHS students are frustrated with this situation. Overall, if students had a longer lunch period they could take more responsibility to clean up their messes.  If the food was less bland and somewhat healthy, students would be happier eating their lunches and have a better balanced meal.