By: Sloane Lindsay

You may remember mine and Alexa Lake’s article called Why is String Cheese Rubbery?. In the article, we discussed the change in cafeteria string cheese and what caused this. It has been a few months since it was posted and I have been wanting to continue writing about the matter. In this article, I will be diving into Unit 4’s carton milk, slushies/applesauces, and three favorite meals of sixth graders.

Ah, milk – you love it or you hate it. It’s been served in schools since 1954, always packaged in a miniature carton, because glass or plastic is too expensive. Unit 4’s milk comes from the well-known dairy company Prairie Farms. It’s necessary to address the issues, which are minimal, but impactful. The first issue is that sometimes the milk is frozen or has ice cubes in it. This may be due to the district aiming to preserve the milk longer by freezing it, or because it’s just too cold in their fridges. The second issue is that the milk can sometimes be near-expired when served. Are schools serving frozen, expired milk? These scenarios are uncommon, so don’t fret.

Slushies and applesauces are always baffling. Unit 4 has slushies called Smooth-Frozen SideKicks, which are cups of frozen, multi-flavored slushies, known to be a side for Bosco cheese sticks and soft pretzels. The slushies are claimed to “credit as a fruit,” meaning that they are able to be a substitution for real fruit, which is negotiable. The nutrition facts state that they have no added sugars. The ingredients list natural and artificial colors and flavors. Now, for applesauce, it’s very questionable why we only get strawberry-flavored applesauce, something (probably) unheard of outside of school; and seeing the provider’s website, they certainly do sell normal applesauce, along with cinnamon, peach, and mixed berry flavors, too. Applesauce is known to be a side for beef teriyaki dippers.

The three favorite meals suggested this time are the Bosco cheese sticks, tacos, and chicken and waffles. Why do people like these so much? In interviews with some sixth graders, they say that they love the cheese included in both Bosco cheese sticks and tacos. Cheese is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it definitely enhances a meal. With chicken and waffles, people seem to like the combo of sweet and savory. One said that they liked the fluffiness of the waffles. In conclusion, these three meals are delicious due to their carbohydrates and dairy, but they are not very nutritious. There have been many complaints about how the fruits and vegetables are unripe or overripe, and therefore, there is food waste and kids don’t get proper nutrition because they don’t want to eat the poorly-grown produce.

Aside from these points, school lunch is up to others’ judgment. What is your opinion on school lunch? Should it be changed? Is it delicious? I hope this evaluation proved to be helpful.