Surviving High School: School Lunch Edition
By Christina Muttavanchery ('23)
Welcome back to The Rambling Raider’s segment of: Surviving High School! I’m your host, Christina Muttavanchery, and as a junior here at NR, I thought it would be good to showcase the reality of my experiences as well as relate them to others. This month’s topic is our school lunch. Many people have critiqued it and showed very strong opinions (some negative) about it, I definitely have too. I often skipped certain lunches since it wasn’t very appealing to this eye… or nose. But I chose to stick it out and give “reviews” of the lunches, with pictures too (stay until the end to see a Dance Moms inspired pyramid)! And please keep in mind that not all the lunches on the monthly menu will be in this article, just a week’s worth.
I’m going to start with my least favorite lunch first. Lo and behold the meatball sub! There’s a lot I can say, but I’m gonna try to keep it short and sweet. The bread is definitely wheat, so there’s some health reasons to be there, but the meatballs…is just not it at all. I never eat this lunch for this reason. I have honestly never heard someone say they really like it, or even finish it all. Let’s just say, meatball sub, you're at the bottom of the pyramid today.
Photo Credits of Christina Muttavanchery
Our next lunch on the chopping block is the chicken parmesan and rice. It's an odd combination to say the least. At first when someone told me that’s the lunch I was extremely confused since I don’t think we’ve even had this before. This lunch didn’t seem all that nutritious nor visually appealing. It was a bit hard to even cut into and was tough. It unquestionably did not stand up to chicken parms made at homes or restaurants.
Photo Credits of Christina Muttavanchery
Photo Credits of Christina Muttavanchery
At the next lunch, I grabbed the build your own taco meal. I pretty much ate the tacos like it was nachos (no meat or corn), since it just did not look appetizing. It wasn't the most horrible lunch since one could just work around what they don't like, and just eat certain components of it.
An alternative to the school lunch is the yogurts and smoothies provided. During every lunch period, kids are always rushing towards them like gold (the same goes for the teriyaki chicken!). The quality of the lunch may vary sometimes, but something we can always count on is the amazing ladies who serve us the lunch.
Photo Credits of Christina Muttavanchery
Another lunch is the baked potato. A somewhat healthy replica (since it was topped with broccoli, I guess) of a loaded baked potato. I’m not quite sure what the sauce is on the potato, I tried it, and really didn’t like it, and ended up having to scrape all the topping off, and just each a plain baked potato (with some salt packets that my friend had)!
Photo Credits of Christina Muttavanchery
The next is the classic cheese pizza lunch! As you can see through the list, this is the one lunch one can go with to be safe and sure it won’t be so bad. The cheese slips off of it usually, but I had this paired with my friend’s ranch packet from their salad.
Photo Credits of Christina Muttavanchery
The lunch on top of the pyramid this week is… the salad! There’s baby carrots, cucumbers, and some lettuce, with the option of ranch packets. It’s kept freshly refrigerated, so the chicken is always cold, but it is still pretty tasty. This lunch can be a complete hit or miss, but most of the time you end up with something that tastes good, enjoy with dressing or none at all.
I also had the opportunity to ask some NR students what they thought about the lunches and what changes they would make!
First up is Kelly Barros (‘23)
Kelly told us about her favorite school lunch, confessing “I really like the pizza crunchers and the chicken teriyaki!” She points out that school lunches could be improved, “If they had more options. For example, yogurt. If they had more of that and offered it to everyone.” When asked which meal she would remove from the monthly menu she said, “Maybe the baked potato, but some people do like it, or the meatball sub. I personally don’t like meatballs, so I haven’t tried it, but a lot of my friends don’t like it.”
Next up is Michael Monzon Lemus (‘23).
His favorite lunch was the teriyaki chicken with rice, and the yogurt as well! He reasoned saying “Everyone loved the yogurt!” When asked what he would change about lunches, he said, “If they gave more fresh sides like apples, yogurts, etc, people would enjoy it very much.” The lunches he feels should be cut are the baked potatoes, the burgers, and the meatball subs.
Lastly, Tyler Celestin (‘23)
The lunch he looks forward most to is the teriyaki chicken with rice! When asked what could make lunch better for others he said, “Maybe some more seasoning or at least packets of it, and some more condiment options. When asked what’s his least favorite lunch, without hesitation he said “The rib sandwich of course!”
As you can see, there are some similarities in these student interviews. Everyone loves the teriyaki chicken with rice and yogurt, but no one is a fan of the baked potato or the meatball sub, and I completely agree with them all, a few changes would make lunchtime more appetizing to everyone.
Lunch periods can already be incredibly hectic, but the force behind it stands with the women who work at NR. Their smiles and kind hearts are what makes the environment feel so comfortable and enjoyable, and on behalf of everyone, we thank them!
Banner courtesy of Concord Monitor
Cover photo courtesy of Center for Ecoliteracy
Dance Moms inspired pyramid!