John Champe High School Cafeteria

I push open the doors to the school cafeteria and the sticky, humid air presiding inside blasts out of the room, mixing with the cool air of the main hallway. I cautiously make my way through the crowds to stand in the enormous line. Careful to not step in any mushy remnants of food thrown on the ground, I pull out my phone to check my grades, knowing it will take at least ten to fifteen minutes for me to get to the front. I scolded myself for not waking up earlier and finding anything to bring to school as uncertainty pools in my gut while I stand in line.

In all my years of attending John Champe High School, I’ve come to learn that the Cafeteria, without a doubt, always disappoints the standards of anyone looking to eat a decent meal.

As I near the front of the line, I peek over the heads and shoulders of my peers in front of me, looking to see what the Cafeteria has decided to serve today. I am severely disappointed when I find that the only option served today is a Chicken Sandwich. As someone who has eaten chicken from various places, it can be said that the chicken served here is quite questionable. A more accurate description of the meat served at the Cafeteria would be Mystery Meat, as the chicken sold lacks the basic characteristics of chicken. The Mystery Meat lacks the stringiness and juiciness of chicken, instead it simply squishes up together when you take a bite and leaves you with the unsatisfying taste of cardboard in your mouth.

Knowing this, I search the limited space of the serving area, in which students are to pick and choose which foods they would like to eat for lunch, for a viable vegetarian option. However, my search proves to be unsuccessful as they seem to be only serving chicken sandwiches, chicken salads, and vegetarian salads. I turn my head at the thought of eating a salad from the Cafeteria as many of my friends have found the salads to be cold and horribly plain served with either soggy or burnt croutons. As I grab a Chicken Sandwich and a small milk carton, I turn to my friend to ask her what she plans to eat for lunch, as she is a vegetarian. She shrugs and replies “I guess I’ll just eat chips again,” with a tired sigh. It’s two o’clock and all my friend has to eat is a measly bag of chips that barely fill half the bag! It saddens me to say, that this is not the first time the Cafeteria has failed to consider the dietary restrictions of the students attending the school. On the occasions that I cannot eat nonvegetarian meals due to a religious holiday, I am forced to buy a bag of chips sold at an absurd price to fill my appetite.

Due to the long line of hungry students waiting behind me, I rush to punch in my student ID at the cash register. The lunch lady behind the register nods at me, indicated that I can go to my seat, and she quickly starts to take the order of the next student waiting impatiently behind me. Hastily glancing behind me to the balance in my lunch account. I am shocked to find that I only have six dollars left in my account. I expressed this shock to my friend, and she reminds me that although I only bought milk and a questionable Chicken Sandwich to eat, it still costs $3.15. I shake my head with disdain at the unreasonable prices set for the meals. I wouldn’t have been so shocked, had the meals served been of better quality, but the McDonald’s dollar menu had better, more diverse options.

My friend and I fight through the mass of students crowding the utensil cart to get to our lunch table. Our eyes kept glancing downwards to ensure we don’t step in a part of someone’s lunch that was thrown on the floor. After sitting down, I sigh and pick up the dreadful sandwich. The bread of the sandwich feels papery under my fingertips as it cracks the moment I pick it up. Wincing, I take a bite of the sandwich and I have to forcefully swallow the bite. However, the chicken leaves behind the lousy taste of cardboard, compelling me to drown the taste with the chocolate milk I bought. I gulp down the small carton of chocolate milk, and bring the sandwich up to take another bite. The chicken from the Cafeteria kitchen looks different than any other chicken i’ve ever seen. It can be said that the John Champe Cafeteria definitely has a lot of room to improve in the years to come.

However, the patient and kind nature of the cafeteira staff must also be acknowledged. While they may be rushed to serve an enormous number of students at a time, they always manage to greet you with a smile and patiently answer any questions you have. They give helpful reminders to students when their lunch account balance is lower. This is significant as they must serve lunch to hundreds of impatient, hungry students and prepare meals for all of them using the ingredients given to them.

Nonetheless, the welcoming and kind nature of the cafeteria staff is not enough to make up for the lack of regard to dietary restrictions, unreasonable prices, and the less than par food.

John Champe High School Cafeteria

41535 Sacred Mountain St.

Aldie, VA 20105