Nutrition Struggles

September 20, 2016

By Joshua Jordan

You work hard to get through your first day of school. Then all of a sudden the bell rings, signifying the time for lunch. You and your friends rush down the hallway to be the first in line. Then you noticed it: the milk is a different brand, the cheese on your pizza is deliciously gooey, and lunch tastes better than last year.

MVCSD’s Nutrition program allows families to buy food for their children or receive free lunches if they can not afford them. In the high school alone 11.4% of the student body are eligible for free lunches. In order to receive reduced or free lunches, a family of four needs to make between $31,525 – $44,862 annually.

Every year the district tries to improves the quality of lunches. Some of the new changes that were implemented are switching the brand of milk and changing the order of the food in the lunch line. They changed the order of the food so that the more nutritious options, such as salad, is the first choice instead of an afterthought.

Currently the school’s budget is slowly fluctuating because every month the number of students eating school lunch changes. It is also fluctuating because the district is investing more in high-quality food like fresh fruit and vegetables.

During the fiscal period from June 30, 2015, to July 1, 2016, the school spent $683,761.94, but only made $635,093.67. They ended up paying $48,668.27 more than they made. The school board members stated that the budget will fix itself because they predict that more people will start to buy school lunches due to the changes they have made.

Students and teachers alike have been trying to get used to the new changes. “Compared to other schools, our lunch is really good and I’m pretty grateful for that” Derk Keller said. Keller is not alone. Substitute teachers have also been heard talking about how Mount Vernon’s lunch program is better than that of other schools where they have worked.

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