School food as seen by a vegetarian

I’d like to preface this article by clarifying that the food is provided by the district, the lunch ladies have no control and please be very nice to them! They do have quite the fan-base, with students commenting, “Julie the lunch lady needs a raise, she is the sweetest woman in Fargo!”
Now back to school lunch.
I’ve been vegetarian for about 3.5 years now, and let me tell you, finding something to eat for lunch has been a struggle. I mean, as much as I love Uncrustables, I’m getting sick of it. I’d like to be able to eat lunch everyday without having to bring my own. It can’t be that hard to have a vegetarian option every day. Sometimes the pizza happens to be cheese and not pepperoni, which is always a fun surprise, but definitely not a conscious decision. There is a salad bar most days, but again, it would be nice to have some variety like everyone else.
Since the beginning of the school year, I think lunches have regressed. There used to be a vegetarian-safe option almost every day, and now I’m lucky if there’s something besides day-old fruit for me to eat. (I will say the addition of the permanent pizza bar gives me a good chance of being able to eat something unless they run out of cheese before I get there.)
Out of the nineteen school days we had in April, vegetarians would have nothing to eat aside from an uncrustable or yogurt on thirteen of those days. Thirteen! Personally I wouldn’t want to eat yogurt or a PB&J for lunch 3-4 times a week. So, what am I supposed to eat?
Now, I have the privilege to be able to pack a lunch from home, or leave to get food during my open, but not everyone is afforded this choice. Some students rely on the school food for them to be able to eat during the day. Even those who don’t absolutely need school food expect to be provided with lunch everyday.
Free lunch is available for those with financial restrictions, but that only goes so far if there’s nothing for them to eat.
Now, this problem has a simple solution, no one has to go out of their way. Offer one meat-free lunch option every day. It happens accidentally sometimes, so make it purposeful. If pizza is being served, make it cheese. Take the lunch meat off of the pre-packaged salads. Serve alfredo without chicken or pasta sauce without ground beef in it. Bring back the salad bar.
There are over 1.5 billion vegetarians worldwide, and these numbers are on the rise. The vegetarian diet is great for the planet, as it vastly reduces fossil fuel and carbon monoxide emissions. Due to the evident decline of the environment, cutting down on meat is steadily gaining traction all over the world.
On a more local level, approximately 10 percent of the students at North have some sort of dietary restriction. However, all of the students are quite opinionated on their school lunch. I sent out a survey to quickly get a wide-range of opinions and answers, and received many messages in all caps. I love the enthusiasm. I think a few students misunderstood the purpose of the survey, demanding fast change from me. Again with some all caps responses. The candidness of the responses was unparalleled. I felt the answers truly reflected the thoughts of the student body as a whole. Some lovers of school lunch and some haters, with many in between. But all armed with strong feelings.
Students without restrictions still said the lunches leave them wanting more. More flavor, more substance, more options. Students voiced a want for more seasonings offered besides salt and pepper. Many students went so far as to compare school food to that served in juvie. Now, I hope that is an observation from common knowledge and not personal experience but that’s none of my business. The students still enjoyed some aspects of school food. The popular favorites were chicken dumplings, alfredo, cheesy bread, and breadsticks.
Students called for reform. Many had issues with the pricing per meal as well as the quality and nutritional value of the food itself. One student reflected on the gradual decline of school food over the years saying, “I remember when I came here for something when I was elementary school, and the food was a lot better, the school preaches that it is healthy, but in all reality if you look at the menus that are linked to the FPS website, they aren’t that healthy.”
Alternatively, a handful of students felt the attempts to make lunches healthy were the reason for their downfall. Many demanded more processed foods thinking that would make it taste better.
Of the students with dietary restrictions, 52.2% felt they weren’t accommodated. The most common demand was for more options. One student responded with, “Have better alternative options that aren’t PBJs. Having daily sandwiches like they plan to do with burgers and pizza. Having a more healthy menu would also help.”
A student even offered a solution saying, “Ensuring that fruits/veggies don’t run out during the lunch rush, and having free alternative options for beverages other than milk,” would provide the options they needed.
Another student was concerned with having any options at all. They expressed their concern for themselves and others suffering from other restrictions. “Give more options to those who can’t have certain things. Or label items. It’s hard for me to tell what I can’t have and then I eat it and get sick which isn’t fun.”
Whether someone has a restriction for religious, cultural, environmental, or personal reasons, they deserve to eat lunch. Everyone deserves to eat lunch.