A school is a place where horizons are broadened, eyes are opened, and stomachs are filled.  Yes, believe it or not, there is a portion of the day, amidst the flurry of new philosophies and calculus problems, which is entirely devoted to the task of nourishing our bodies.  This is lunch time, debatably the best period of the day.

Recently, the students of Stuart Hall received a survey asking for feedback related to the school’s lunch quality and variety.  The survey consisted of the commonly served school meals, the salad bar, and the drink and condiment station.  It asked students whether they ate the food item and if they did, to rate it on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the best. 

Let’s dig into the results!  I hope you are hungry! There were 108 students in the grades 6 through 12 who participated in the survey giving their opinions on the cafeteria dishes.  The percentage of respondents in each of the scale’s categories was multiplied by the scale number, and all the values were then added together to get a single number, which I will call “liking score.”  A perfect score, which is 100% of the respondents rating the food item a 5 equals a liking score of 500.  After crunching the numbers it appears that, like many people, Stuart Hall students are not very fond of vegetables or vegetable soups.  The tofu stir fry, baked tomatoes, black eyed peas, and veggie-burger all had a liking score of less than 101.  They are followed by the soups, cream of asparagus soup (70), cream of mushroom soup (59) and the least liked item on the list, black bean soup (57). 

Maybe Stuart Hall students do not slurp down their soup or eat all their vegetables, but they do eat well.  French fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and tacos are the hot meals topping the list of most liked items.  These items received scores in the range of 303 to 371.  The drinks must also be outstanding since they placed second on the liking scale with a score of 358, falling short of the French fries by only 13 points.  The condiments rate in an interesting place, above the burgers, at 297.  Are Stuart Hall students eating their burgers with mustard and ketchup or eating mustard and ketchup with burgers?  The data says we like them both equally.

Which is more important, a large variety of options or the freshness of the available choices?  The student vote rates the variety of choices on the salad bar and deli bar higher than their freshness.  The data reveal there is a difference of 33 points between the variety and the freshness for each the deli bar and the salad bar.  Both the variety and freshness on these bars are still above the halfway mark of 250.  The gap between the variety and freshness would suggest that only some slight modifications would be necessary to reduce it. 

Just as dessert follows the meal, the results from the survey will follow this article.  The data would suggest fewer vegetable options as students have no interest in these items.  This would also be the case with the vegetable soups because the three types of soups placed last compared to all the items in the survey.  These data show some interesting trends and suggest changes could be made in the Stuart Hall menu. 

After a brief meeting with kitchen staff, some of the flour in the air began to settle, making it clear how much effort is put into the Stuart Hall lunches.  Ms. Toms and the cooking staff have seen the results of the food survey and are in the process of modifying the lunch menu.  They aim to please the students, which can be difficult at times due to the diverse student body at Stuart Hall.  The kitchen staff has a limited budget to work with, yet they take pride in ordering fresh produce daily from Charlottesville.  Ms. Toms handles the menu, planning it one week in advance; to be sure the necessary cooking supplies will arrive in the shipments the school receives twice a week.  Before wrapping up my discussion with Ms. Toms, I asked if there was anything she wanted the Stuart Hall student body to know.  She went on to explain that the staff is always open to feedback about the meals and that they are willing to try new recipes.  “We love interacting with the students and meeting new people, and value their opinions on the dishes,” she said passionately. 

The cafeteria staff works hard every day for the students and deserve a sincere thank you.  I encourage students and faculty to drop into the kitchen and meet Ms. Toms and the rest of the staff with their favorite recipe.  Who knows, your recipe could just be the next favorite food of Stuart Hall.  Happy Eating!  Bon Apetite!  Buen Provecho!