What does lunch look like at a typical public high school?

That's the question that we attempted to answer on a tour of two high schools: Berkeley High School, and Oakland Tech.

Both schools are located in "flatland" areas of Berkeley and Oakland, respectively. Both schools also are surrounded by fast-food restaurants or places where you can buy sandwiches, hot dogs and burgers. We wanted to see what is available at the schools, and whether or not students can get healthy food right on campus.

On Thursday, March 16th, we went to Berkeley High School to sample its astonishing lunch cafeteria food, and the facilities surrounding it.

All year long, we have been studying nutrition among teenagers and adults, and this fit right in. We heard that Berkeley High has a killer food program for their students and we wanted to see how it compares to Tech’s. We were interested in how the two schools' cafeterias would compare, and how the quality of the food each one serves matches up.

Berkeley High’s cafeteria opened its doors to students about two years ago, on April 15th, 2004. After its opening, the on-campus lunch rate at Berkeley High skyrocketed. Students pay for meals using their student ID card almost like a credit card; the card just has to be loaded up with money at the beginning of the school year.



When we arrived at Berkeley High, Mark Coplan, Berkeley High’s public information officer, met us on the corner of Milvia Street and Allston Way. He was our tour guide for the day, and he was going to help us get into the cafeteria.

When we walked in to the cafeteria there, it was clear that Berkeley High’s cafeteria puts ours to shame. The place reminded us of an airport food court, with many different options everywhere, and many places to take a seat and eat. The Berkeley High cafeteria has five different, healthy “mini-restaurants” to choose from: A 100% organic salad bar, the Berkeley Pizza Kitchen, an Asian Express, a Burrito Bar, and the Fresh Express Cafe.

While Eric chose to eat at the Berkeley Pizza Kitchen, Tasha decided to get a sandwich at the Fresh Express Cafe. We were both amazed to find out that each meal at every “mini-restaurant” comes with a complementary fruit, such as an orange or a banana. Eric’s pizza was absolutely scrumptious and also very healthy, plus there was no grease dripping from it. Tasha's meal looked delicious as well; she had a turkey sandwich along with a green apple.



Not only was the food in the cafeteria excellent, but also the facilities surrounding were simply amazing. The lunchroom has furniture for students to enjoy, including comfortable seats and attractive tables, and the seating arrangement allows four kids to eat at one table.

Of the seating arrangement and the chairs they decided to use, Coplan said, “We went out to college and community college campuses to look for the “look” and the style.” The cafeteria resembled a mall; the only thing missing was music blaring over a loud speaker.



Approximately 750 students and faculty members decide to eat their lunch at the Berkeley cafeteria every day, a small percentage of the estimated amount of 3,000 students who attend Berkeley High. When asked why so many kids decide not to eat on campus, Coplan said, “We have 3,000 students here and we couldn’t feed them all at any rate.” Ironically, despite the tasty food and wonderful surroundings, most kids decide to go off campus to get their lunch, where they are at risk for unhealthy foods such as greasy pizza or the ever-so-dreaded soda.



Berkeley High’s main concern is that students are not allowed to get sugary things on campus. “The only place we have vending machines is in the gymnasium in the locker rooms, and they have all been changed to water and juice,” said Coplan. “We no longer allow our students to sell candy or to sell things we tell them not to eat to raise money,” he added.



Oakland Tech’s cafeteria was going to have to impress us in a big way since it had to follow Berkeley High’s wonderful facility. On Thursday, March 23rd, we decided to go and try out our own cafeteria. We both decided to eat pizza and French fries, with chocolate milk, we each had an orange, too. The pizza wasn’t as tasty or healthy as Berkeley High’s, and there was a lot more grease. The French fries were actually not too bad, and they did not have too much salt, which is a very good thing. Salt is a “silent threat” when it comes to food because although a dish might have a low fat content, the amount of sodium in it can determine whether or not it is unhealthy for you.



The head cook of Oakland Tech’s cafeteria is Gwen Taylor and this is her first year working here. She worked in the cafeteria at Frick Junior High School last year, and brought along with her a new idea for Tech’s food program. That idea is freshly made food cooked from scratch every morning.

“We try to do a main line, which has food made from scratch, and then we do an a la carte line,” said Taylor. However, she could not match the variety and quality of the food at Berkeley High because some of Tech’s food comes frozen from a distributor.



On average, Oakland Tech serves anywhere from 320-460 students for free in the morning for breakfast. Then, come lunchtime, the Tech cafeteria serves about 210 kids a day. Just like Berkeley High, only a fraction of the nearly 1,700 kids at Tech eat in the cafeteria. If a student doesn’t have a reduced or free lunch program, lunch can cost them $2. Most of the kids who eat in Tech’s cafeteria are on a free or reduced lunch program.



The Oakland Tech cafeteria serves many different foods at lunch, such as spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, tacos, pizza, and potatoes. Every morning for breakfast, the cafeteria may put up some delicious entrees like eggs, bacon, pancakes, and have sides like yogurt, juices, milk, and fruit.



Even so, there basically is no comparison between the two cafeterias because Berkeley High appears to put more effort and money into their facility than Tech does. However, Tech might have something that is just a bit more important: a head cook who seems to really care for the kids that she serves. When she was asked about her job, she simply said, “I love it, I really love it.”



Pictures of Berkeley High’s cafeteria are available at: http://www.bhs.berkeley.k12.ca.us/services/foodcourt.html

A similar photo essay about Oakland Tech’s lunch is available at:

http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ca/oakland/oaktech/