Two years. For almost two years now we have been dealing with the effects of the pandemic. You would think by now we would have everyday things like lunch figured out, but apparently not. For ten years I bragged about Bancroft’s superior lunches and the plentiful food options available for our enjoyment. What happened? What happened to the warm and filling meals of the past? The welcoming and familiar dining staff, the variety of choices, cheese tortellini Tuesdays? In place of the previous out-of-this-world chicken parm, we are eating stale, soggy, undercooked, and insufficient portions of food.
Now, I’m not sure if the faculty is receiving the same portions as students, but from a high school student’s perspective, I feel like I’m being fed the servings of a 5-year-old.
For one, the main meals themselves are probably the size of my fist, which, is not very big at all, and 2, I consider myself to be lucky if I get 5 apple slices, as usually, I get 4 or less. And who thought that a 2 square inch piece of stale bread with unmelted cheese could be considered a sufficient meal for any adult, let alone growing high school kids? Seriously? Attached below I have a couple of pictures I’ve taken of my own lunches these past couple of weeks. Maybe now you will see one of the reasons why we all come home tired, cranky, and desperate for food. How is anyone supposed to learn and prosper on an empty stomach?
A lot of kids, myself included, are unable to eat breakfast for a variety of reasons, so lunch ends up being our first meal of the day. I can say from experience that having the very first thing you eat in a day be a dry, crumbly, chunky black bean burger does NOT add up to a happy day.
“Now Sarah, why don’t you just bring lunch from home if it’s so bad?”
I would love to. I don’t think anyone really knows how badly I want to bring my own food from home, especially after this year. Unfortunately, the way my life just rolls around this is not an option for me, and many others as well. My life is so hectic that the last thing either I or my parents have time to worry about is what I’m going to be eating for lunch. This is where the school comes in. I get the school lunch because I wouldn’t get one otherwise, so if you would like me to just not eat at all, then sure I’ll bring my own lunch, but that wouldn’t be benefiting anyone at that point.
It is extremely disappointing when looking back to the lunches we used to have and comparing them to the mediocrity we consume now. Now, I understand with Covid the lunch system obviously had to change to keep the community safe, but personally, I can think of multiple ways this problem could have been addressed with a better outcome all around. This is my cry for change. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, and especially when this all zooms out to the bigger picture of nutrition, body care, and possible eating disorders, the impacts of this issue are more influential than one may think. So please Bancroft, think about your students. Do better.