Give me food. (An opinion piece)

Give me food.

     The students sit in their third block class, anticipating the bell. That bell. Such a glorious sound to the students. To some, it means freedom. To others, a chance to get away from the work, kick back, and talk to friends. At least for half an hour, during their lunch.
     On the way to the cafeteria, you better brace yourself. Students rush past towards to the cafeteria, many shoving through the crowd, and taking down innocent, hungry students. What are they in such a rush for? It’s only school food. Stereotypical high schools have food that makes your skin crawl. Only the desperate would take a bite of the “meatloaf surprise.” Nashua High School South, on the other hand, is different. The food here isn’t as bad as Hollywood makes school food out to be. (Elementary and middle schools in the city is a different story.) The hot lunches usually don’t look very edible or nutritious. It is rare to not see chicken on the menu. Chicken nuggets, chicken patties, chicken parmesan, those chicken rings they had the other day. Chicken chicken chicken. It’s hard being a vegetarian in this school.
     I have been a vegetarian for six years. Every day, I go into the lunch room, hoping for a tasty, healthy meal containing no meat, and always end up with disappointed, with a bagel in hand. The bagels are good, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not my idea of a decent meal. If I want an acceptable meal at school, I’d have to bring my own from home. I could make myself a salad here at school, but it can cost up to five dollars. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not pay five dollars for a cheap salad. They have whole grain cheese sticks, which are pretty good, but get boring after a while. I could choose something from the grab-and-go line, but that isn’t a very healthy option. The hot lunch always contains meat. So what can I eat for school lunch that is healthy, meat free, and will fill me up?
     I’m not alone on this topic; there are several other vegetarians in the school. Many have given up and started bringing meals from home. What about those of us who can’t bring food from home, for economic reasons? Should we just give up our morals and eat the dead animal they put on our plates? There is no way anybody could get me to eat meat.
     Personally, I believe that the school should come up with a vegetarian option at school. The budget cuts would make this difficult, yes, but we could always make some kind of food cut in the cafeteria. The school could cut out pizza, seeing as it is not the best option for students to eat. We have to keep in mind that the eating habits we have as a child will stick with us throughout our life time. If we eat pizza and a bag of chips every day at school, we will most likely eat fatty foods in our adult lives. The school district needs to keep this in mind.
     What do I suggest as a solution? Well, I think we should take after Paul McCartney. Not long ago, he spoke at the European’s Parliament hearing on Global Warming. McCartney brought up the idea of a “meat free Monday”, in which everyone eats a meat-free meal once a week. This is a great idea, in my opinion, and will ultimately make students healthier. Meat has recently been said to be unhealthy. Protein as well as the other few vitamins and minerals found in meat can be taken in one pill a day. This is a cheaper, healthier, and less polluting way to help you body be happy.
     School lunches should be for the health of ALL students, not just the majority. See Spencer Lowry for more information.