These results came from a survey of 82 participants, and they should be alarming to parents, teachers or anyone who cares about students’ well-being. It’s no question that school lunches could be better, but with so many students avoiding school food, their cognitive and physical ability is at risk from poor nutrition. The solution, on paper, is simple enough: change the menu to fit more students’ taste, and more people will eat it. But just how easy is it to make such a change?
To investigate this ongoing issue, we interviewed officials both at Helix and within the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) about how such changes could happen. Their responses were surprising, to say the least.
First, we talked to Olivia Almeraz, the Food Services Operations Provider at GUHSD.
When asked how often the menu was changed within the district, Almeraz told us, “every three to four months, to see what’s going and what’s not…and then we also have presentations with students at certain high schools and we do tastings…and see what the students like, what they don’t like…so we try to change the menu at least twice a year.” (5.16)
This news was shocking to hear. Student tastings? We had never heard of this before, and such freedom of choice for school lunch was unusual. Wondering if officials at our school knew of this, we decided to interview Elena Smith, Principal of Educational Services at Helix. Along with overseeing many administrative operations, she handles lunch finances and works with GUHSD to provide food for the school.
To begin our interview, we asked her if she had heard of or participated in tastings or anything of that sort. Surprised, Smith responded, “No, I’m not aware of that.”
For one of our school principals to be out of the loop on something such as this seemed strange. And, while Smith was helpful in pointing us in the right direction, overall, it seemed as though there was some kind of lack of communication caused by at least one end- our school, or GUHSD. To their credit, Smith did tell us that “it’s probably never come up because the students have never said, ‘Hey, how can we change what’s being offered?”
However, we thought, maybe that’s just because we don’t know how.
In an effort to get some more definitive answers, we picked two people who we knew would have valuable information: one such person being Kevin Osborn, the executive director of Helix Charter High School.
Thankfully, Osborn had heard of these tastings- but only recently. Ironically enough, it seemed that both the Highland Fling and the executive director had begun investigating and asking questions not too long after one another. According to him, upon learning that other schools have had their opinions heard on the district school menu for quite some time, he immediately got in contact with GUHSD and requested our school to be involved in this process.
While the process used for selecting students for the tasting is still unclear, our information points for a tentative date in December, along with another equally important survey distributed digitally for all other students around that time. Osborn says that this survey, which will ask for students’ opinions on the menu and what can be changed, will be weighed heavily in the decisions the school will make about our menu, in conjunction with the district. He emphasized just how important honest responses are on that survey, as, in a sense, the menu is in the students’ hands come December.
In the process of gathering information for this story, we were admittedly under the impression that many menu decisions were outside of student reach. However, the interview with Osborn brought to light a few ways students can (and have) made their mark on the menu. 
The survey coming up is one, but additionally, there is another role for student voice that many have begun to take notice of. This past year, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) here at Helix advocated for halal items, such as the new halal burger and hotdogs, to be added to our selection of food. They often found that, for religious reasons, there wasn’t much for them to eat. In a joint effort, our executive director and a few other staff members were able to accommodate these needs, resulting in the new halal items we see each day.
Osborn says that they are aware that many students skip lunch entirely, and outlined some of the key ways they are trying to get more students in the lines; faster lines, better food and more food. Both him and the school are aware that showing up to the line a bit late could leave you with food you don’t like—or no food at all. Osborn informed us that all the food that is and isn’t left is tracked, so they can get a better idea of what students like and get more of it. Those items that are neglected each day are more likely to be removed.
A lot of effort, he told us, is going into distribution. When asked what that meant, he highlighted the changes we’ve seen with how exactly the food gets to us; the canopies when it rains, the new locations built around campus, and the ID readers put on some lines.
As he outlined before, all of these changes are in an attempt to get more kids eating lunch, with a rough yet achievable goal of 500 more being what they’re working towards.
While we were certainly glad to hear of all the improvements made to lunch- both planned and past- Osborn told us that, thanks to the government, the issue with menu items is not money, it’s nutritional guidelines. The USDA’s, to be specific.
To get more information on what these guidelines looked like, we called the Director of Food Services for the Grossmont Union High School District– Vince Scimone.
Scimone informed us that the reason many sweeter items have since disappeared from breakfast is because of the more restrictive food guidelines as of late. At times, he told us, it felt impossible to make a menu around the regulations. “Breakfast bars, granola bars… they can’t be served. The muffins can only be, like, two days a week. They just keep tightening the regulations.”
From Scimone, we learned that the district gets about four dollars per meal. Each time you take both a main entree– for example, a chicken sandwich– and a fruit, vegetable, or juice, that meal money is reimbursed, and the school can continue getting money from the government to feed our students. The goal isn’t to make money, as this process just shows that the money is being used properly, and allows the school to somewhat accurately order the food required to feed the number of students. Somewhat is a key word here, but from these interviews, we do know that efforts are being made to remedy the lack of food at times.
As for the tastings we were interested in, since quarantine, Scimone admitted he hadn’t heard from the Helix teacher who used to coordinate those with him in over four years. He did tell us, however, that Osborn was, indeed, working on assembling a new group—so we have that to look forward to.
We were also informed that, while Scimone does try to buy the highest quality ingredients he can, the food vendors in use, such as Sysco, commonly don’t have “food that’s specific for [each] school. If they don’t have a spec-sheet—”(a spec-sheet, for those unaware, is a nutritional breakdown and ingredient list)—“that [proves] it is signed by a dietician that has this much grain and this much protein, we’re not even allowed to serve it.” Scimone even claimed it was the most “complex menu planning process that exists.”
Suffice it to say, the issues both students and faculty have with school lunch are complex. Helix itself is working on changes it can make, as well as searching for student opinion through that future tasting and survey. If you would like to get involved, keep an eye out for both the tasting and school food survey but in the coming months and provide accurate and honest answers for each. Your answers could affect the food everyone has to eat—for better or for worse.
