A local San Diego writer examined one of the lamest school lunches I've heard of yet: one in which many of the kids don't even get to eat! You read that right. San Diego High School has ONE lunch period. The lines are so long that either you bring your food from home or you risk getting nothing at all.
"Kids don't eat the lunch because of the lines," said junior Joseph Kemp, who bought a bag of Baked Cheetos from a student store, poured nacho cheese on top, and ate it with a plastic spoon alongside his friend David Gutierrez. Kemp estimates that he skips lunch entirely two or three times a week. "I don't even like to eat this stuff. But I'm hungry."
"Sometimes you get food late and you can't even eat," Gutierrez added.
So if you have enough money to bring a lunch, you can. And if you want to buy the "competitive foods" (food other than the federally reimbursable school lunch) and you have the cash, you can - although in that case you're probably eating junk like Cheetos with nacho "cheese." But if you're broke and you qualify for free lunches: get in line and risk it.
San Diego Unified students are far less likely to eat the hot meals dished out by school cafeterias than are students in other urban school districts, according to an outside consultant. Less than 30 percent of San Diego Unified students eat the lunches that are guaranteed free for poor students and that meet minimum nutritional standards set by the government, compared to nearly 60 percent of students in other urban districts including Chicago, New York and Miami. The trend is consistent across all income groups and all but one high school in the district.
A solution to the problem is having more than one lunch period. Simple? Yes. My large public high school did it. But since it hasn't been done here before, it's controversial, according to the article. I'm a newbie to dealing with local issues but if the article represented the situation correctly - that kids are going without food because of long lunch lines - then I think it's a no-brainer. Sure kids might get split up from their friends if there's more than one lunch period, but what's more important? Your right to sit with your best friend during lunch or your right to eat? |
