You’re checking the clock. Five minutes before lunch. Your stomach is growling in anticipation to eat next period, and you practically can’t wait to get in line.
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Lynne Hutchison created three new stations designed based on feedback from students so they are able to have a different selection for the year 2023. She and her team also used college dining halls as inspiration for the build-your-own meals now available in the cafeteria.
The first station is the regular Daily Dish.
“It includes prepared vegetables and a heavy, warm, comforting meal,” Hutchison said.
The second station is titled the Grab-and-Go Bistro. It is designed for when a student is in a hurry and needs to grab a sandwich, wrap or salad when on a time crunch. It’s easy to get but also built as a nutritional lunch.
Lastly, the Grille incorporates the build-your-own-meal concept.
“We have a burger, sandwich, burrito and salad bar,” says Hutchison. “We have had a lot of interest in the salad bars, so we are trying to build that in more in the cafeteria.”
English teacher Peter Bergman said he has noticed the recent changes made to the school cafeteria, comparing the Grille to popular restaurant Chipotle.
“I’ve noticed they are trying to do a much more modern restaurant style which is more based on choice,” Bergman said. “You get to choose a base, a meat and add your toppings as you go.”
As far as accessibility for school lunches goes, Hutshison and her team have tried their best to make the food available for anyone who needs it.
“All of the lines are built as reimbursable lunches so our free and reduced students could take advantage of everything that our paid students can as well,” Hutchison said. “The benefit of this year, our reduced students normally pay 40 cents a lunch, and the government is covering the cost of that so lunches are free for both free and reduced students.”
Senior student John Uguccini shared his opinion on the school lunches.
“Sometimes the school lunches are okay, good or bad [it really depends],” said Uguccini.
Hutchison appreciates any feedback students are able to give.
“One of the most exciting things about my job is if I have a bunch of students come up and say ‘Hey, we really don’t like this, we are not going to eat it’ I can change it,” Hutshison said. “I come up with another idea, they give me another idea, and we can adapt.”
