Richmond High School Lunch
Most students at Richmond High School (RHS) want to change the school menu. Students have wanted this change for a very long time, but unfortunately they are not heard. Rhsnewswire reporters asked around 20 students what they thought about the school lunch.
1. If you were to decide on what you wanted to change from the RHS, what would it be and how would you plan to change this issue?
First of all, many students at RHS believe the food is disgusting and not very nutritional; they don’t give enough healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables or fresh cooked food but what they do give students is junk food. For example, corn nuts, gummy bears, chips, rice crispy and other types of candy. RHS menu is greasy pizzas, stalled hamburgers that look like horse meat, chicken teriyaki, yogurt, burritos, and salads with browning lettuce. The food is not well cooked it’s always dripping with grease and it doesn’t taste like what it’s suppose to taste like. It’s not very appetizing and does not prepare students for activities. For example, freshmen and sophomore PE is a very important class to pass. If students don’t pass PE, they won’t graduate.
Second, another thing students are doing to get food is going off campus. They risk getting caught, even though they know the school is closed campus. The RHS policy is a Closed Campus. A closed campus means, no students are able to leave the gates of school without their parent’s permission. Students will receive a detention or a suspension for leaving campus.
Twenty RHS students were interviewed and one Para Professional. Students and staff don’t eat here. They call up restaurants or their parents bring food. Or they leave campus to Mario’s, Burger King, Mac Donald’s, and Phila Burger; even though these restaurants are not good choices either. These are the only choices given to the community. They are always nutritious, appetizing, or cooked
A Para Professional from RHS, Debbie Dickerson told this reporter how food was when she came here. She said “they had many varieties of food” and it was actually cooked at school and wasn’t pre-packaged. She calls today’s food “mystery lunch.” The food was always hot and the cafeteria seems like a home town buffet because of the varieties of food they had. Now she works here at RHS and she sees the “differences from back then and now”, said Debbie Dickerson.
A student from RHS, Maria Rojas, told us that when she was biting down on a pizza that it wasn’t well cooked, dripping with grease and later on got her sick. “I haven’t eaten at school for a very long time since that accident happened it got me sick,” said Maria Rojas.
Another student from Richmond High, Kevin Gil, said “I once drank the from a milk carton from the school and threw up because it was sour and rotten! “What a horrible experience!” said Kevin Gil. And from then his always buys his food at stores or brings food from his house because he doesn’t like the food from Richmond High.
Cafeteria co-worker Pat SanMiguel has been working here at RHS “I’ve been working here since December 13, 1976. They use to sell Mc Donald’s and Taco Bell right here on campus, according to Pat. She said, “since I can remember they used to cook here and students were given the option to choice from foods like Mc Donald’s, Taco Bell’ and other fast food restaurants.” Pat told us the school has been getting our food from Down Town for the last 10 years and “it’s being pre-packaged.” She was asked what the name of the company was that packaged the food, she said, “I don’t know the company name, I just know it comes from downtown.”
Students are asking for change! They want less greasy hamburgers, Mexican food, Chinese food, healthy snacks, vegetarian options, and giving student the option to see the nutrition chart because there not given that option.
If the school were to listen to the students and help them on these issue students from RHS would be better at school and not getting off campus and start eating at school and eating healthier. Our test scores would go up, our bodies would be healthier and our minds would be focused on out learning.
