School lunch has been available since elementary school and is clearly a part of the everyday life of a student, but how good for you is it really?  Welcome to Lunch with Lucas. I am asking the difficult questions as I delve into this extraordinary subject of school lunch. 

Many people think school lunch is not the best. What many people do not know is that often school lunch that lacks nutritional value can result in negative behavior and other issues in students. Some students desire more variety and healthy lunch options. Annabel Granger is in 10th grade and said “It’s good but there needs to be more variety and more healthy choices.”

School lunch pizza
Photo by Lucas Simpson

Your performance in school could be affected by what you eat at school during the day. There are studies that show that kids who are undernourished do not function as well, having difficulty focusing and just an overall hard time learning as those who eat a meal with proper nutrients.  According to a study, kids who eat a healthier lunch achieve higher test scores. It isn’t just undernourishment either. Meals with high levels of saturated fat may also negatively affect memory and learning. 

In a recent survey, feedback was also received about the amount of food and the size of the portions on the tray. My brody Lucas Fuller (10) says “I think the food is pretty good, but I find it hard to enjoy it when there isn’t that much of it.” 

Lastly, eating healthy in high school should inspire and help high school kids develop good, healthy eating habits that will follow them through adulthood. Many kids in my grade, and at my school, eat the pizza every day because it is always an option. Most people don’t take the fruit to go with it as well. 

As Nico Sun put it, “Overall I feel like the school lunches are improving. I like what they are doing with the tacos this year. But besides that, I think the pizza and chicken nuggets can get old.” Maybe the school lunch needs a healthier variety of food and it just might help kids do better in school.