School lunches have always been notorious for their low quality ingredients and poor selections.

Unhealthy foods are widely sold in school cafeterias and the portions are always so poor.

Teenagers are in one of the biggest phases of growth, physically and mentally, and one of the most important factors to support growth is a healthy diet. For the average teenage boy, a calorie intake of over 3,000 calories a day is the suggested amount and for athletes, the recommendation is even larger and can be up to 5,000 calories per day. The numbers are slightly smaller for girls, but not by much. The system that our school puts together to feed our students is not substantial enough to support this diet, and students’ poor choices in unhealthy and unsubstantial foods do not help.

There are four main things that the body needs to be fed in order to operate properly, especially those that are growing. The most important is protein, which acts as a long term way of using energy, and is what builds our muscle. Without this essential macronutrient, students will be substantially unhealthier, as they won’t be able to build strength and muscle. Another essential macronutrient is fats. Fats are often characterized as a negative thing just because of their name. Fats do not make you fat, kept in check. They are what fuel your brain and hormones, which for a growing teenager, you can imagine these two things are incredibly important. Carbohydrates aren’t necessarily 100% needed, but they can be incredibly useful for athletes. They offer quick and good energy, but it’s not long lasting. They are still important for everyday energy, however, especially for students in classes all day. And finally—vitamins and minerals. Students need these, in particular Vitamin D, calcium and iron, to build strong bodies. Without calcium and iron, students will have weaker bones, and be easily bruised. Now, let’s see how well schools can provide these. 

School meals follow a rule set made by the federal government, which is a weak and low-effort attempt at a good baseline for students’ nutritional needs. This program that schools are forced to follow suggests that the maximum amount of calories for students’ lunches grades 9-12 is an egregious 850 calories. In Maryland alone 46% of students are eligible for free meals, which means that school meals could very well be the only meals they eat in a day. How is any growing teenager supposed to survive off of 850 calories? 

This bowl has beef, chicken, cheese, queso, sour cream, corn, and rice in it. With all of these ingredients you would think that it would at least fill up the small bowl that it is put in, but it barely even fills half of it. And this is definitely the best option that we have, as it provides the largest variety of macros, with carbs, fats and proteins, but still it is lacking in portion size. Everyday, I try to order two separate proteins, beef and chicken, and by rule they have to reduce the amount of meat by a lot if you order two different proteins. Why do this when they throw out or take home a ton of leftovers after the school day is over? Let students get the nutrition they need.

Many students dislike the way that the school lunch system is ran. Brunswick senior, Aleah Penny, says this about the portions and options at lunch, “I wish there were more options available, but I do think we have a very wide variety. When it comes to the portions, I think for bigger people they could use more, but, considering my size I think that the food portions are more than enough.”

And this is how a lot of students feel—it’s just not enough. We have a great staff with good people but the regulations and options available make school lunches just too low quality.