What's for Lunch?

Courtesy of VHHS PTO Facebook

The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and interviewed individuals and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools.

This week, I interviewed a group of VHHS students to get their opinions on the school lunch menu for the past few days.

Monday was chicken-finger day. Overall, the interviewed students consider it to be a decent menu item. Some students, like Sophia Humphries, believe “chicken-finger day is always a good day” and that it's one of the best school lunches. Others consider it to be just ok or instead prefer "comfort food" sides, like mashed potatoes and rolls. Personally, chicken fingers are low on my list of favorite school lunches, but I have to agree with students like Ella Claire Hunter that the rolls are delicious.

Tuesday was crispito day. Crispitos have been an iconic school lunch menu since elementary school, but after controversy over whether the meat is chicken or beef, students have mixed opinions. Emily Jin calls them “tasty but questionable”, and many other students likewise enjoy crispitos while acknowledging their unappetizing appearance. However, I was honestly surprised at how many students do not like crispitos.

Wednesday was mozzarella cheese stick day, my personal favorite. I expected to find more students like Emily Jin and me who think mozzarella cheese sticks are a solid choice, but surprisingly, most interviewees considered them second-rate. I also overheard many conversations from students who were unhappy with the quality of the marinara sauce.

Thursday was cheeseburger day. As expected, most students consider school cheeseburgers bland and, as Mary Pitts put it, “a C or D-tier lunch.” I personally used to like them in middle school, but a cold, hard bun combined with a bland beef patty does not usually make for a top menu item. However, it would be unfair to skip over the curly fries, which were by far the best-looking hot food served that day. Overall, most students did not love the menu for Thursday or Friday.

Friday was pizza day. Most students consider pizza to be a very standard and mediocre school lunch. Emily Jin believes the pizza quality depends on the shape of the slice, while others don’t enjoy school pizza in any form. Mary Pitts says that though she doesn’t particularly like school pizza, she wouldn’t go out of her way to buy a boxed lunch instead.

As a whole, this week’s school lunch menu ranked about a B-, considering its strong start and slower finish.