As someone who rarely eats meat, I find it very difficult to find a lunch at Plymouth South High School that I can consume. Plymouth South’s lunch menu seems to rotate between very few options–cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, pizza, mozzarella sticks, and sometimes breakfast foods. I often find myself pulled towards the salad station, but the salads are usually a little old, and not very appetizing. Sometimes I enjoy a slice of cheese pizza, or the three french toast sticks that always have to come with a side of sausage, which I can’t eat. With almost every lunch, I have to avoid a certain food on my tray because it’s meat. I don’t have enough time in the morning or the resources to pack a healthy and full lunch, so I rely on school lunches everyday.

While I understand the importance of getting your protein, many kids in Plymouth South opt for vegetarianism, or another restricted diet. Really, their only consistent food choice is a salad, but even the salads are sometimes tainted with old chicken. Students are usually unable to eat a full meal at lunch if they don’t eat meat. One of the only meals they can enjoy is the soggy pizza given to us every Friday. Vegans are usually unable to eat anything provided through the school cafeteria because it all contains dairy or meat. I want to make a menu that is more inviting and catered to all students, rather than just the general population. It’s unfair that many kids can’t get a full meal at lunch because the school doesn’t want to provide more or better options. Kids are going hungry for the day, or just not getting enough sustenance. Hunger can be a very distracting and uncomfortable feeling, making it difficult for students to concentrate on their school work.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, South’s high school students had more options at lunch. One of these options was to build your own salad/salad wrap. The lunch room had one bar dedicated to picking out how you wanted your salad to look–students could choose if they wanted meat, cheese, vegetables, even if they wanted their salad in wrap-form. This allowed students to work around allergies and dietary restrictions with ease, and should be reinstated in the school as soon as possible. While salads may be a bit repetitive, students can change up the ingredients and form of their salads, giving them a sense of variety. This is just one step towards making the lunch menu more approachable for all students. As of right now, the two “hot lunch” lines are often the same dish. Instead of only providing students with one fresh lunch choice, the school should always provide us with at least two. One of these two options should be without meat, which would give vegetarians the opportunity to eat a full lunch. As a school, we tend to ignore problems as long as it doesn’t affect the majority of students. This approach is absurd; All students should be provided with a healthy and filling school lunch.