Students are rolling into the second semester here at Indy, and many of them are complaining about their course load intensifying- but one thing they’re not complaining about (for the most part) is school lunch, which is also picking up in terms of options offered and quality of food. 

For instance, in the past few days the school lunch menu has offered chili, sweet potatoes, and mega buffalo dip, options previously unheard of at Indy. With such new and exciting options, there is bound to be varying criticisms and praises of the new entrées.

Some students seemed to be unsatisfied with their hot lunches. In particular, Ryan Williams (12) seemed to disapprove of the mega buffalo dip entree, saying, “It almost looked like it was… chewed up before they put it on the tray.” He also noted that he felt “really nauseous” afterwards, and gave the dish a 4/10. On a kinder note, he also said, “I did like the peaches though.” 

Other students, however, seemed to enjoy their lunches. Connor Barkman (12) spoke nicely about his vegetarian chili and muffin meal, saying, “It’s pretty good. Good flavor, good vegetarian option, I think.” When asked what he loves most about school lunch, he replied, “I love that they have different options every day,” but he also added, “the fruit option is quite poor.” 

For context, LCPS is required to provide each student with at least one fresh fruit or vegetable per meal. Students Amelia Harris (11) and Violet Creason (11) find this to be an ineffective measure, “Nobody really eats their fruit anyway, it usually ends up in the trash,” said Harris. Harris also noted that “school lunch is great, and I like how they switch it up a lot.” 

Creason added, “There is a food recovery bin, but I’ve noticed that nobody ever puts their fruit in it, they just throw it away instead.” However, both students agreed that school lunch tastes great, with Creason saying, “it’s good- I really enjoy the pizza crunchers.” 

Ritvik Navil (12), when asked what he would change about school lunch, said “I wish they had more unhealthy food,” but also noted, “I love the sliced apples.” 

Over seven million school meals were served to LCPS students last year, which just goes to show that, with such a large consumer pool, there will always be conflicting opinions about what is right and what is wrong with school lunches. However, just because we may have different opinions about school lunch doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t appreciate it. This opinion was probably best summed up by Carter Hawkins (12) when he said (regarding school lunch), “I’m grateful it exists.”