Lunch is an important meal of the day and it is eaten at school. It boosts our metabolism and gives us energy for the rest of the day. But some would say it’s a problem at Triton. We are advised to eat healthy but we can’t always do that with the choices that are provided at our school.
At Triton, there is a salad bar. Salads can become unhealthy because most people add ranch dressing to them. A serving of 2 tablespoons of ranch can increase your calorie intake by almost 150 calories. These healthy alternatives aren’t that healthy.
How many calories are really in our “build-a-burgers” and how much fat is in our pizzas? Triton High School does actually provide nutritional information on what is in every lunch meal every day. The cafeteria manager, Sharon Bolduc, walks us through the process: “Go onto trsd.net, look under “Food Services”, go to the lunch menus under “Menus and Memos”, and once the schedule pops up, click on “View the Nutrients.” This provides information on the portion size, calories, cholesterol, sodium, etc. There’s quite a few students who are diabetic and they use the nutrition facts on the menus to control their insulin intake.
A lot of students wonder where the cafeteria gets their food from. “We get our main meal foods from “Thirst and Foods”, we get our bread from “Fantini Bread”, we get ice cream and milk from “New England Ice Cream”, and we get fresh produce delivered twice a week by “The Department of Defense,” said Bolduc.
Nonetheless, many students who have grown up eating school lunch since elementary school do not mind eating it. Senior Sean Hirtle said,
“I like the grilled cheese meal with the tomato soup. I also enjoy the pasta meals despite it being a little watery. My favorite thing about it is the free cookies or jello they give us every once in awhile.”
If students do decide to eat school lunches, they should be aware of what they are eating. Some students have said they “don’t care” what’s in the school lunch or that they just simply enjoy eating school lunch.
“My favorite lunch day is Wednesday. I love to eat the popcorn chicken and mashed potatoes,” said senior Josh Rolfe.
“Our numbers spike on chicken days. Popcorn chicken is our most popular meal meaning that a lot of student’s get doubles for that meal. Everybody’s pretty consistent with our main meal lunches. Other favorites are “build-a-burger” and “breakfast favorites,” said Bolduc.
Bottomline, school lunch won’t kill you.