1001 Viking way
Joshua Hooten
Austin, TX 78704
November 27, 2012
Bradford Area School District
School Board
81 Interstate Parkway
Bradford, PA 16701
Dear School Board:
School lunch, what happened? Why do prisoners get better food quality than our own students? I am just another junior student of Bradford Area High school. During my enrollment here, I have encountered some problems with certain aspects of the school that aggravate me, as well as other students. While some students’ problems are caused by drama, are unreasonable, or do not pertain to us as a group, mine very much does. This is my third year attending this school, and my opinion on the matter of school lunches has only increased with intensity. I understand that you want to save the school money, and are actively doing so, .but some of your solutions cause malcontent among the students. Your opinion seems to be “in order to better other resources in our establishment, we can cut down on the expenses used for school lunches. After all we don’t have eat in the cafeteria and therefore food quality is irrelevant.” This may be slightly harsh, or not your real opinion, but some of your solutions cause malcontent among the students.
My first complaint is the serving size. You have made the average lunch tray a small amount of the main food, a side, and milk. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day for many teens, while others like to eat much less. For those of us who eat more, six small pieces of chicken doesn’t satisfy our hunger and we continue the day wanting more to eat. If you returned the option of meal size again, but have guidelines, it would be infinitely better. For instance, have a small and large option so students may have the amount they want.
Another disappointment in the meals you provide is that they are not always decent quality. Your food ranges from good, to half cooked, to gross. While the majority of the meals are good, there are always days when some students don’t eat. I myself have had some unpleasant surprises. I used to eat breakfast in the cafeteria, and still do when bagel sandwiches are sold, but I now refuse to eat the French toast sticks. I have chosen not to anymore because on two separate occasions, there was hair in my meals. Other things I have encountered are half cooked rice and mostly frozen pizza, while others have experienced things such as bad citrus, worms in apples, and molding bananas. I have no tangible evidence to give you, but I want you to be aware.
While these things are not everyday occurrences, here is one that is. With the meals you serve comes a catch, we have to pay for it. I understand that you need to charge something in order to help the schools income, but it causes problems. There are students who pay for their own lunch and don’t always have enough. Based on the size of the meals, you could either increase food, or lower prices. For $1.35, you can buy a lunch with six chicken nuggets at school, or for only a little more, you can get a package of 25 from Tops. Students who feel that the food is not appealing don’t always eat lunch because they feel it’s a waste of money to buy something that doesn’t taste or look good.
Although I have no authority to change these things, I hope you think of the students’ everyday life and the importance of a good satisfying meal to pull us through it. You want us to study hard? As Napoleon said, “an army marches on its stomach.”
Signed,
Joshua Hooten
Joshua Hooten
Austin, TX 78704
November 27, 2012
Bradford Area School District
School Board
81 Interstate Parkway
Bradford, PA 16701
Dear School Board:
School lunch, what happened? Why do prisoners get better food quality than our own students? I am just another junior student of Bradford Area High school. During my enrollment here, I have encountered some problems with certain aspects of the school that aggravate me, as well as other students. While some students’ problems are caused by drama, are unreasonable, or do not pertain to us as a group, mine very much does. This is my third year attending this school, and my opinion on the matter of school lunches has only increased with intensity. I understand that you want to save the school money, and are actively doing so, .but some of your solutions cause malcontent among the students. Your opinion seems to be “in order to better other resources in our establishment, we can cut down on the expenses used for school lunches. After all we don’t have eat in the cafeteria and therefore food quality is irrelevant.” This may be slightly harsh, or not your real opinion, but some of your solutions cause malcontent among the students.
My first complaint is the serving size. You have made the average lunch tray a small amount of the main food, a side, and milk. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day for many teens, while others like to eat much less. For those of us who eat more, six small pieces of chicken doesn’t satisfy our hunger and we continue the day wanting more to eat. If you returned the option of meal size again, but have guidelines, it would be infinitely better. For instance, have a small and large option so students may have the amount they want.
Another disappointment in the meals you provide is that they are not always decent quality. Your food ranges from good, to half cooked, to gross. While the majority of the meals are good, there are always days when some students don’t eat. I myself have had some unpleasant surprises. I used to eat breakfast in the cafeteria, and still do when bagel sandwiches are sold, but I now refuse to eat the French toast sticks. I have chosen not to anymore because on two separate occasions, there was hair in my meals. Other things I have encountered are half cooked rice and mostly frozen pizza, while others have experienced things such as bad citrus, worms in apples, and molding bananas. I have no tangible evidence to give you, but I want you to be aware.
While these things are not everyday occurrences, here is one that is. With the meals you serve comes a catch, we have to pay for it. I understand that you need to charge something in order to help the schools income, but it causes problems. There are students who pay for their own lunch and don’t always have enough. Based on the size of the meals, you could either increase food, or lower prices. For $1.35, you can buy a lunch with six chicken nuggets at school, or for only a little more, you can get a package of 25 from Tops. Students who feel that the food is not appealing don’t always eat lunch because they feel it’s a waste of money to buy something that doesn’t taste or look good.
Although I have no authority to change these things, I hope you think of the students’ everyday life and the importance of a good satisfying meal to pull us through it. You want us to study hard? As Napoleon said, “an army marches on its stomach.”
Signed,
Joshua Hooten