Students and teachers alike have long complained about school lunches. For years, PV food has remained unchanged without much consideration.
This school year, on Dec. 6, 2024, the administration unexpectedly sent out a survey to all high school students, bringing hope to those discontent with the current food rotation. For the first time in ages, the school was giving a voice to the students about the problems with school lunch. This could be an opportunity for the students to get better beverage choices, traditional line items and maybe something more accommodating to dietary restrictions that aren’t a salad.
However, in the last few years school lunches have been progressively improving in the eyes of many students. Items like Louisiana Chicken, Pepperoni Bosco Sticks and General Tso Chicken made many optimistic for the future of school lunches, so this survey came as a bit of a surprise to most.
The survey results came out about a week later, on Dec. 12, and many were underwhelmed. PV’s food service manager, Stephanie Denboer, replied to everybody with a short email claiming that school lunches would change.
“We have read every response and took note. After break, you will notice a few changes in some of the choices at lunch,” Denboer stated. “We will have some new Grab-N-Gos, as well as different items on the Grille line. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we will have soup available as a self-serve option as well!”
But how do these promises hold up today?
Junior Anthony Harvey, who briefly campaigned for school lunch reform, has several problems with the changes. “Before the change, I would get a delicious box with a muffin, chips, and a cheese stick. Now I get hummus, chewy pancakes, and some low-sugar chocolate Chex cereal,” Harvey explained. “The soups are nice, but the real problem with school lunches is the main item, not the things you can grab when nothing’s edible. Grab-N-Go boxes used to be a safe backup, but now they’re just awful.”
What Harvey is referring to is how the box lunches have changed their items for the worse. The hummus box, for example, used to contain Sun Chips, a cheese stick, hummus, and a vegetable of some variety. Now they contain hummus, pita bread, an unknown cheese seasoned with an unknown spice, and dietary chocolate Chex cereal.
At least there was a change here, as Denboer’s promise of new grille items is absent.
After looking at PV’s school lunch menu, the grille line has remained unchanged, with the same items: breaded chicken, cheeseburger, corn dogs, BBQ pork and hot dogs.
Clayton Miller, a senior who plans on going into culinary studies, is concerned about this. “There are so many different things you can do with these ingredients,” Miller said. “Doing the same thing over and over again is either just the administration not trusting our skilled lunch staff, or not caring enough to follow through with their statement.”
Although the administration may still have yet to implement these changes, it is becoming increasingly doubtful that school lunches will improve further.
