Hey, is "meat loaf surprise" still on the menu?
Our caf. is a bit like a food court. There is always Mexican food, the kids can get a decent taco or enchiladas; there are subs and Chinese food twice a week, in addition to the regular offerings. They can also get a variety of salads- with fruit or yogurt or with ham, turkey and eggs. I feel pretty lucky. Of course not everything is the greatest, but most of it's actually pretty good.
They can certainly do better and not have to raise the price. The school lunch issue is tragic. My children take their lunch instead of paying $4 for the attempt at a healthy lunch the school offers.
Before I started my job, I was a substitute teacher for a few months. I noticed a marked difference between cafeteria food in the different schools, believe it or not. At the time, "better schools" seemed to have better food. At one "good" high school in which I worked, the teacher's cafeteria had a soup and salad bar and was quite good.
When I started my permanent job in a lower performing school, I almost threw up when I saw the cafeteria. It reminds me of a prison.
We never had soup but we did have a salad bar. A few years ago it disappeared and now they sell plastic salad bowls. They're not good but what can you do.
"Still, I can't help but notice when the cafeteria employees eat, they make themselves things that don't appear to be for sale behind the counter."
I noticed that too in my time at public schools. Haw! Says something.
I have been teaching for about a million years and when I first started we actually had HOMEMADE bread for some lunches. No kidding!
The cafeteria at my school is very simple, but the meals I've bought have been tasty. They make a great BBQ chicken breast, and they serve FRESH, real salads every day with spinach and romaine--not just wilted iceberg.
My school is in a weird place, though, with very few other food options close by. My first school had two decent cheap restaurants and probably a dozen bodegas within walking distance. But my options now are limited, so I keep some Trader Joe's rice pouches in my classroom closet for the days when I forget my lunch AND have no cash.
I always brought my own lunch when I was a student and as a teacher, I still brought my own lunch. Between the price and the carb overload, I just couldn't stomach school lunches.
Commenting by HaloScan
