No matter what you wear, what your hair color is, or what your social status is there is always on place you go during the school day: the cafeteria.

There are many concerns about the cafeteria right now including the quality of the food, long lines, prices, and the unsatisfactory lunch policy.

According to Gary Childress, head of Food and Nutrition for Harford County Board of Education, the food served at lunch has all the nutrients you need. Cafeteria Lunches have 1/3 of the calories needed within a day. It has 833 calories and does not contain more than 30 percent of fat.



“[School lunches] are fine but they’re not fantastic,” Ben Weir, senior, said

However, no matter how healthy the food in the cafeteria may be, it doesn’t make up for the fact that the main consumers have objections to how the food may look.

“I think the pizza is cheap and there’s something in the meat because the chicken does not taste like it’s suppose to,” Rachel Anstine, sophomore, said.

“The french fries are soggy, their mozzarella sticks are cold, but I love they’re cheeseburgers,” Aliya Abrameon, sophomore said.

In Edgewood High School’s cafeteria there aren’t just concerns about the food, but about how quickly it is served.

In February our school cafeteria upgraded to a faster more advance computer system, Enterprise, which lately has contributed to the long lines. The lunch ladies had to learn a whole new system without formal training, which takes some time. In essence, they are learning on the fly.



The system provides touch screen and new software to increase the pace of the line’s speed. The new software allows the cafeteria receive information a lot faster. For example, with a click of a button our cafeteria can receive all the stats for the day of every school in the county. It also allows the Harford County Board of Education, along with each cafeteria, to review their progress and to see what kinds of food are popular among the students.

“This program helps us to see what the kids like. Our main purpose is to keep the students healthy, but satisfied as well,” Childress said.

“The main problem with the new system is that its main server is located in Fallston and because we’re connected to a network, if Fallston goes down we all go down,” Ilene Burgori, Cafeteria manager, said.

“The new system is slower…Hopefully it will improve,” Joice Osbourne, the new cook, said.

Another concern voiced among students is the recent price increase of several popular items.

One of the major reasons for the increase is the increased stealing that’s been happening. The cafeteria charges more for snacks so they can charge less for lunches, but when people steal where the profit is made, the snack prices have to raise even more.

“It’s unfortunate students would risk suspension for a 50 cent item," Childress said. "We hope kids will help us out when it comes to stealing. If you’re stealing, it’s going to make the price go up because we need to make money somehow.”