Lunch Poll
Stampedes of wild kids trample hungrily into the room. The aroma of warm pizza and scrumptious chocolate chip cookies makes mouths water as it wafts through the air. Teenagers laugh and talk gleefully amongst friends as a long line of impatient people stretches out to infinity and beyond.
This scene is more commonly known as Antioch High School’s lunch time, when students come together to eat, drink, and be merry. Everyone seems to be jovial and content, but are students here at AHS really satisfied with the food that the cafeteria has to offer?
I interviewed ten students to find out what they thought about the quality, variety, and health of the food items on the menu. Student cafeteria worker Jaylon Simpson, a junior, holds a fairly low opinion of the quality and health attributes of the cafeteria food. “Everything’s so gross and oily. The food is VERY bland, basic, and cheap. At least change SOMETHING. It seems like they just throw stuff together and give it to the kids.”
How healthy can the food they serve us really be? With processed cheeses, meats, and sugars present in almost all of the food, how can we make healthy choices even if we want to? The pizza, which by one unnamed student was described as “tasting like cardboard,” is full of unbelievably high amounts of calories and sodium, and is laden with excessive amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol. According to nutritiondata.com, a typical, small (71 g) single slice of pizza contains 2 grams of saturated fat, 14 grams of cholesterol, 181 calories (62 from fat), and 267 mg of sodium. A recent study by the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) organization found that meat (such as the beef and chicken found in your hamburgers) has all of the above, including harmful substances such as hormones and antibiotics, which you ingest every time you eat a bit of animal flesh. Sure, these products are rich in protein, but where is the fiber that is important for a healthy...
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