School lunch is a touchy subject. Many students are very critical of the lunch at BVSD, with people we have interviewed saying, “Most of it is suspicious looking,” “It tastes terrible,” and “They possibly incorporate sawdust.” However, many students also offer praise for the school lunch, responding that “It is a lot better than most districts,” “It’s pretty good” and “It’s free and healthy, people complain too much.” Most people can agree that it’s a helpful free program for students, but only about 28.9% of students eat it every day.
Even though school lunch is controversial for some, improvements are being made this year to both the BVSD lunch program and the school lunch system at Boulder High. The most noticeable improvement is that the lunch is free this year, courtesy of the Colorado Healthy School Meals for All Program. This has increased the number of people who eat school lunch, with 57.3% of students saying that they plan to eat school lunches more often because it is free. BVSD has also added new meals found popular in recent polling such as the Italian Sausage Hoagie and the Green Chili Mac and Cheese.
The most obvious changes to the school lunch system are found in the cafeteria. Students may have noticed the new setup to get lunch, with the salad bar moved out of the kitchen and into the cafeteria space. Melissa Davis-Capka, the kitchen lead substitute or temporary kitchen lead for Boulder High, says that the new setup in the cafeteria is a big improvement to the last one, easily processing over 300 students in 15-20 minutes. It also allows more space for students to get lunch and reduces crowding, limiting food waste on the floor, and increasing hygiene.
Extremely passionate about her work, Melissa works very hard to do a good job preparing the food at our school. She has a high opinion of the school lunch at Boulder High, saying “Boulder Valley school district food services has a top-notch leading program. This might not always be recognized, but they can facilitate farm to table whereas other school districts can not do that.” BVSD is one of the few districts with a commitment to serving organic and locally farmed food whenever it is possible instead of just buying the most inexpensive food like some other districts do.
Under Melissa and the other workers of the Boulder High School lunch team, improvements in the food have been noticed by some of the student population as well. Oscar Skolnick, 24’, says that he has noticed a difference between last year’s and this year’s lunch. “I think the pizza got a bit better because the cheese used to slide off in a sheet and now it doesn’t. The bread also used to be hard like a military ration.” When asked about his opinion on school lunch he said that it was actually pretty good considering how many people they have to serve in such a short amount of time.
Other students are happy with the new lunch employees saying that they are much more pleasant and kinder to the students. Taman Sachs, 24’, appreciates the change in staff. “The lunch ladies are cool. They’re genuinely nice. When I asked for more food they gave me more food. They have improved significantly.” Other students shared his experience with the new lunch crew, saying that they seemed more passionate about their work and that they were kinder and more willing to accommodate students’ requests.
School lunch has improved a lot this year, but BVSD is always looking for more ways to stand out among school districts. The school district will be taking a poll on school lunches among students and staff this year to make changes to the next school year’s menu. Additionally, Melissa said that if any students have a like or dislike they should give their feedback to food services to help BVSD improve the menu. Boulder High School, and BVSD in general, are making great progress this year to improve everything about the school lunch system.
