Calina He

Balancing Lunch

With recent schools suing Trump Administration over school lunches, students, staff reevaluate

the health, taste of school lunches

While lunch is a part of the day to relax and eat with friends, it is also a time to supply

students’ bodies with the right nutrition. But what can and can’t be served has been the subject of

controversy recently. In December, the Trump administration attempted to roll back the

Obama-era Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

According to NPR, that rollback gave school lunch administrators more flexibility in

serving up refined grains, including white breads, biscuits and white pastas. Last month, a

coalition of states and advocacy organizations sued the Trump administration for that rollback.

Caught in the middle of these debates are cafeteria workers and the students themselves.

Sophomore Megan Lee, who both eats cafeteria lunches and occasionally brings her own lunch,

said she sees merit to healthier foods.

“For some people it’s a reality that they may not be getting healthy foods, so school is an

opportunity where they’re guaranteed that they will be able to eat these healthy lunches,” she

said.

However, while discussions continue nationally regarding lunch servings, CHS has

continued to serve lunches according to its own regulations. Food service manager Holly

Huepenbecker-Hull said she and her staff work hard to provide the best options for students.
 “We work with a dietician,” she said. “The district does have a district dietician that helps

plan the menus for all of our schools, so we have some input and we will let her know things that

are doing really well.”

At CHS, there are certain regulations that the cafeterias follow. For example, according to

Huepenbecker-Hull said, the cafeteria has specific guidelines where they can only offer certain

veggies or other items a certain number of times per week.

“Like, say, a rice bowl that we are having today is a pretty popular (item),” she said. “We

do have a certain serving size that we have to use, a certain type of rice that we have to use to

meet those components. That’s a menu item that we know kids really like so we tell her to ‘keep

that on there, it’s doing really well.’”

Lee said she has noticed the regulations and said, “I think there definitely are healthy

foods in the form of fruits and vegetables, and the fact that to make a full meal you’re

encouraged to get like a fruit and a vegetable and milk.”

Junior Adam Meroueh said he also has noticed the restrictions.

“I do see regulations being put into place for school lunches at CHS, and I think the

school does have more of a say in deciding what foods students are eating,” he said.

Ultimately, Lee said the school should be responsible for the health of lunches.

Lee said, “The school is the one who is providing (lunch), so if you have all these options

in front of students and you encourage them in subtle ways to go for the healthier option instead

of a bag of chips everyday then that’s definitely going to encourage people to eat healthy. Of

course it does depend on the student to choose these options, but I do think that the school has

some sort of responsibility to provide these options.”

 While both Lee and Meroueh said the school currently has more control than students

over the health of lunches, they said students should have more control.

Meroueh said, “Students should still have a say because it is what they’re eating.”

On days when Lee wants to eat more healthy, she said she often chooses to bring her own

lunch.

She said, “Being honest, (during the) times that I try to stay healthy I pack my own lunch,

so that way I can figure out what fruits and vegetables I want to eat and I can make my own

sandwich or something that has healthier options other than the school food.”

Huepenbecker-Hull, however, said the school lunch is just as healthy as something

students like Lee might pack on their own.

“I would say most of the health of school lunches is based off of what kids get,” she said.

“In general what we offer is fairly healthy. If kids will take an entree and all the components in it

including the two veggies two fruits and a milk; that is a healthy lunch.

“If they have the money to buy the more unhealthy foods, we can't tell them, ‘Oh it’s not

healthy you can't buy that,’” she added. “So especially at this age we rely on kids to regulate that

and to balance themselves and to know what's excessive and what’s reasonable.”