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School lunch isn't what it used to beBy Danielle Strenke We probably all can remember our favorite school lunch selection. Pizza, hamburgers, the mystery hotdish that showed up on a regular basis. Todayís menus at Rush City High School include many of those old favorites, but guidelines for nutrition strictly dictate everything that goes into the school lunch. The students have 25 minutes to select their lunch and finish eating before the bell rings. Lunch includes a choice of two different hot lunch selections or a variety of a la-carte items. On Oct. 1, for example, the menu consisted of hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes, green beans and applesauce. The second hot lunch alternative was a baked potato bar with fixings such as cooked broccoli, cheese sauce and bacon bits. Most days students are able to choose from a variety of raw vegetables and dip as well. Food Service Director Donna Westman said all of the choices must meet state and federal nutritional guidelines. ìWe have to offer them bread, protein, dairy, fruit and vegetables each day,î she said. Items available in the a la carte line include hamburgers, chips and nacho cheese, soft pretzels, chicken burgers, individual pizzas and snack items such as cheese crackers, granola bars and snack cakes. The popularity of the a la carte line on a given day depends on the popularity of the hot lunch being offered, Westman said. ìSometimes everyoneís eating hot lunch, other days, they see what is on the menu and go with the a la carte.î The best day to find a low line at the a la carte table is deli bar day. ìBy far deli bar is the favorite,î Westman said. Deli bar day is when the students can make their own sandwich with all of the fixings, and typically includes chips and salsa on the side. Deli bar is so popular, that on those days it is usually the only hot lunch item offered. Other student favorites include pizza, hamburgers and cheeseburgers and chicken burgers. The burgers are all so popular that Westman said they had to change the menu. ìWe used to offer hamburgers and chicken burgers on the same day, but the students didnít like that because they had to choose one or the other. Now we alternate them each week,î she said. Vending machines also offer nutritional a la carte items such as milk, juice and water. The vending machines in the cafeteria at RCHS that include non-nutritional items such as pop, candy and cookies are turned off during the lunch period, per state law. Prices for hot lunch are $2.75 for adults and $1.95 for students. Students do not need to bring money or tickets every day for lunch; parents set up accounts that are computerized and include individual identification numbers for each student. Westman operates the computer during each lunch session, inputting the studentís account numbers as they pass through the hot lunch line. Amazingly she has most of the numbers memorized, so the students do not have to stop and give her their pin numbers. ìI know about 80 percent of them now,î Westman said. ìBy the end of the year, Iíll know them all.î Around 290 students eat the hot lunch at RCHS on any given day ñ that number is up from 240 last year. Saari said that around 25 kids take advantage of the open lunch option. ìThe majority stay here,î he said. ìWe tell the students that having this is a privilege and if thereís a problem we can close lunch at any time,î Saari said. In the 12 years that Saari has been at the school, he has never encountered a problem with students leaving for lunch. ìThere has never been complaints from businesses,î he said. ìWe remind the students how to behave when they leave and talk about appropriate driving,î he said. Some students go home to have lunch, where they eat alone or even with a parent who is home for lunch. Most of them, Saari said, opt for fast food at TJ Koolyís or Burger King. While they may not prefer the hot lunch selection of the day, most students donít want to miss the camaraderie that lunch time brings. ìWe have a couple who leave, go get their food somewhere else and bring it back here to eat,î he said. Saari understands why some students choose to leave for lunch. ìSometimes they just need to get away, take a break from school,î he said. He said in the lunchroom, he doesnít really hear any complaints about the food. The students eating at RCHS last week seemed to have the same favorites ñ burgers, deli bar and pizza. Students also like cheese bread and for many of them, the vegetable of choice is corn. Teachers and staff seem to favor the a la carte items, but Westman said there are a few teachers who eat the hot lunch every day. Westman said she makes sure to include the favorites on a regular basis, but also adds new items to the menu. This week in recognition of National School Lunch Week, Westman added ìwalking tacosî to the menu for Wednesday. The tacos will start with a bag of Doritos and a scoop of meat inside, and the students add their own fixings to top it off. ìHopefully theyíll like that,î she said. But what wonít the students eat at RCHS? ìThis school will not eat chili,î Westman said. ìWeíve tried the name brand chili, making it from scratch, but they wonít eat it.î The Rush City food service staff realized especially this year that the midday meal is very important to students. ©ECM Post Review |