As someone who has eaten school lunches in five different states, I want to applaud our lunchroom for the terrific work they do. The Canyon Ridge lunchroom is by far the best lunchroom I have ever eaten at.

Unlike most lunchrooms that provide only one lunch option, our lunchroom provides three different options for students to eat every day, ensuring every student has at least one food option they enjoy. Our lunchroom also caters to dietary restrictions, including providing options for religious dietary choices and both salads and Uncrustables for those who are vegetarian. We are provided with fresh local apples in the fall, and whole fruit sides all year. We have multiple side options to choose from every day, and most meals come with favorite sauces. We are even given dessert a couple of times a week, which is not common for free school lunches.

Often, lunchrooms have a bad reputation, but our lunchroom’s work is even more impressive when you consider the restrictions they must work around. Besides the fact that they must prepare food for hundreds of people in a short period of time, federal restrictions control the types of food they can serve. Lunchrooms are required to buy 90% of their food from American sources, which cuts significantly into their limited budgets because local and American-grown produce tend to be more expensive than imported produce. Despite this, they continue to provide bananas, oranges, and apples even in the winter. There are also restrictions on how much sodium, sugar, and non-whole-grain foods lunchrooms can serve. This mostly affects the main dish options they can serve, and they continue to provide favorite ‘fast food’ options such as hamburgers and chicken nuggets. 

Despite these limitations, our lunchroom serves healthy, quality, and diverse meals to our student body every day. Our lunchroom should be commended for their creativity, innovation, and dedication to their jobs.