Aliso Niguel High School has changed their cafeteria menu this year by adding a variety of new options to pick from. Their accessible food provides students with a wide range of foods to satisfy their personal tastes.
ANHS serves their students breakfast and lunch meals throughout the school day. Their new addition to breakfast has been a breakfast sandwich that many students seem to enjoy. For lunch, the menu added meatball sandwiches and Chinese take out boxes.
The Chinese take-out boxes and meatball sandwiches contain a variety of ingredients to fill their students up for the rest of their time at school. The Chinese take-out boxes consist of chicken, celery, carrots, and on top is a flavorful sauce. The meatball sandwiches have meat, cheese, and bread.
Kelsey Watts (12) orders food from the cafeteria everyday and she says, “I think the cafeteria menu has improved a little bit since last year because of the new meatball sandwiches and Chinese take out boxes. I would like to see more vegan options like the ones they had a couple of years ago though.”
The cafeteria provides a vegetarian option of salad on the menu; however, this year the cafeteria removed its ranch sauce causing it to be less favorable amongst students. Additionally, the majority of the menu includes non vegetarian ingredients; therefore, some individuals form ANHS may find it difficult to suit their dietary preferences.
An article written by an organization known as Options for Youth claims, “Research has shown that students are able to learn better when they’re well nourished, and eating healthy meals has been linked to higher grades, better memory and alertness, and faster information processing.”
Nutrition is extremely important for a teenager’s health, and the school makes their best effort to facilitate their students’ needs. The school requires their students to get at least one fruit or vegetable so that they can receive proper nutrition throughout the school year when they order breakfast or lunch. Students have many options to choose for, such as apples, bananas, grapes, or oranges.
A downside from obligating students to get fruits or vegetables is that many students will not eat the food they are given. Instead, students will receive their food and throw it away or leave their food on the cafeteria stand for other people to take. As a result, a large amount of food is being wasted at ANHS.
Ms. Jackie, a school cafeteria lady, says “Our most popular item is probably the pizza and the least is the cereal.”
Since the majority of students tend to order pizza for lunch or pizza sticks for breakfast, the cafeteria tends to run out of those options fairly quickly. At times, some of the last students to order their food are left with no choice but to get a meal they dislike or would not favor.
Although the school provides a good range of foods, reaching out to students to get more information on the foods they should provide on the menu may be a considerable solution for future years. Students should also be reminded that the food they eat plays a major role in the way they perform and act in their classes and sports.
