Is School Lunch Good Enough for Students?

By Nicolas Baiz, ‘24

When it comes to school lunch in most schools, most students would say that they wouldn’t ever eat it outside of school. MAST@FIU is no exception; most days, students are not enjoying the provided lunch. Only some dishes, including the Jamaican patty, cheese sticks, and Asian chicken are widely accepted by the students.

Today, only dual-enrollment students have access to the establishments on FIU's campus, Chick-fil-a being one of them.

This leads to a large portion of students avoiding lunch altogether, but can you blame them? The portions are small, meaning when a student is done eating, they are still hungry. Some students even get up and wander around the lunchroom asking people if they are done with their meal, in the case they could eat their untouched food. This is a problem that has only amplified since moving to the new building; last school year, being located on FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus gave access to a burger joint that sold reasonably priced food, as well as a bookstore with a wide variety of snack options.

You know the food is bad when the students cannot tell what they are eating. When asked about the quality of the food, Sophomore Jeralyn Montedeoca responded with one word: “Terrible”. When asked to comment further, she stated, “I think the school lunches are terrible, aside from the cheese sticks, but I believe they’re still trying to poison us with the rest of the options”. This is just completely unacceptable and calls attention to a district-wide problem. Students in all public schools across Miami-Dade County, not only Mast@FIU, deserve to see school lunches as a viable option. Furthermore, students also need to understand that the only way lunches are going to get better is if students use their voices to advocate for the betterment of the school.

One popular lunch option, pizza rolls, still lack in quality.

When asked about the quality of the food, Sophomore Akim Bonhomme responds, “Although the school lunch seems nutritious on paper, the majority of the time, the food doesn’t taste that good”, reiterating points brought up earlier. Akim goes on to address the lack of effort to cater to the vegan/vegetarians of MAST@FIU. “Another issue is inclusion. This school claims to be an environmentally positive school, but there [are no] vegan/vegetarian options. I understand that there are Meatless Mondays, but people aren’t vegan once a week, it’s a lifestyle.” Students should not be driven to switch their lifestyles due to their schools’ lack of options.

MAST@FIU is a great school, with high achieving students and an inclusive environment. To facilitate a good learning environment, they need to put more effort into the food their students run on.

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