Milk cartons

Lunchtime has always been an enjoyable part of the school day. It is a break students get to relax, socialize, and refuel themselves; most people would deem this an important part of their everyday schedule. Certain foods that are essential to the meal are expected at lunch every day, but what would happen if these expectations were soon unavailable?

In current news, Central New York is facing a problem concerning the milk in children’s lunches. Many school districts in the area are finding out that one-pint milk cartons are soon going to become unavailable. There has been a shortage in the cartons themselves leaving the question, is there a solution?

Liverpool Central School District’s Food Service Department expects this shortage to affect its schools soon. This scarcity in materials that make up the cartons was unexpected, but Liverpool has a solution. Liz Corrigan, cook manager in the Liverpool High School main cafeteria states, “Upstate is going to be sending us half-gallon containers instead of the cartons.” 

There will also be a problem that comes with this temporary solution. It has become a cause of concern to lunch workers that there may not be enough fridge capacity. Also, milk will be distributed to students by “...disposable cups with lids in order to continue to offer milk to students at each meal…”, Liverpool Central School District stated this in their post on the parent square app. 

Workers expect lunch lines to begin to have delays since milk needs to be poured into each individual cup. Even though this drink is optional a lot of students still drink it. Chocolate milk, a popular drink option, will soon be unavailable to students of the schools until the shortage is resolved. Ryan Vann a Junior at the High School is one of those students that enjoys their chocolate milk with their lunch. “You know I love Chocolate Milk so much,” Vann says. 

Looking toward the future, CNY school districts are hoping that the scarcity of milk cartons will be resolved. Students will have all the milk options they desire during lunch and less work will be needed during the lunchtimes.