{"id":1828,"date":"2021-10-29T11:52:23","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T15:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/?p=1828"},"modified":"2021-10-29T12:02:21","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T16:02:21","slug":"school-lunches-how-are-they-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/school-lunches-how-are-they-really\/","title":{"rendered":"School Lunches – How are they really?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Sanjana Jain, staff writer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students expressed a range of opinions when asked how they feel about school lunches, and how they compare to previous years\u2019 standards in terms of taste, quality and options.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine this. It\u2019s the middle of the day and you\u2019re starving. You make your way into the cafeteria and are eager to grab lunch and talk with your friends, and then you\u2019re met with something that you may or may not be willing to eat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

School lunches are tough. A lot of preparation goes into ensuring that students throughout Howard County are fed everyday. The HCPSS Food and Nutrition Services is committed to providing students with nutritious meals daily, free of charge for the 2021-2022 school year. They\u2019ve taken extensive measures to ensure that the produce is of the highest quality by sourcing \u201c60 percent of our food\u2026from local vendors.\u201d They also claim to not only \u201cmeet national standards\u2015[but] exceed them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But despite their considerable efforts, some students at River Hill are displeased with the quality and lack of options provided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked for her opinion on school lunches now, freshman Joanna Sargunar openly stated that they are, \u201creally disgusting\u201d and said that \u201cit\u2019s a lot worse compared to before.\u201d Senior April Kiende was less harsh, but thinks that the food is \u201cmediocre, and the quality has gone down ever since it\u2019s free.\u201d When asked about the menu choices, some students had complaints. Students enjoyed and reminisced about previous years\u2019 menu items such as tacos, tater tots and french fries, which have since been removed, resulting in repetitive choices rendering students bored and unfulfilled. Sophomore Edison Chiang said that the options are \u201cthe same thing everyday,\u201d but that the \u201ctaste is better.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the topic of school lunches being free, sophomore Gabi Demnren positively stated, \u201cI love that they\u2019re free for everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 On their website, HCPSS Food and Nutrition Services states that, \u201cThe HCPSS will provide access to a variety of nutritious and appealing meals that accommodate the health and nutrition needs of all students.\u201d But Junior Joshua Lynn says otherwise. He pointed out that \u201cthere\u2019s nothing gluten free,\u201d and wishes that that\u2019s something they would consider adding. Celiac disease (gluten sensitivity) is exceedingly common, with the NIH estimating \u201cabout 2 million people\u201d in the US to be sensitive or allergic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every student has a different opinion on school lunches. Most are grateful that they\u2019re being provided with a free meal during the day, but for others they eat out of obligation and necessity. Some changes would definitely improve student\u2019s opinions and outlook on school lunches, but they are still grateful for the service provided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sanjana Jain, staff writer Students expressed a range of opinions when asked how they feel about school lunches, and how they compare to previous years\u2019 standards in terms of taste, quality and options.   Imagine this. It\u2019s the middle of the day and you\u2019re starving. You make your way into the cafeteria and are eager…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[282],"class_list":["post-1828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-opinion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/IMG_2068-e1635522727524.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1828"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1839,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions\/1839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}