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Capital Region BOCES
More than 30 million students eat a school lunch every day, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
Here’s the burning question that Parent Today has for students: Why?
To celebrate National School Lunch Week’s theme of “School Lunch Snapshot,” we asked students from a handful of Capital Region schools to tell us why they’re opting out of the brown bag and into the lunch line.
Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central school District
River Townsend, a 5th grader at BKW Elementary School: “It’s fast and easy. A minute after I get in line I’m sitting having a healthy meal.”
Jasmine Keller, 5th grader at BKW Elementary School: “I love the yogurt. It gives me a lot of energy for the rest of the day.”
Tabatha Fitzpatrick and KellyJo Wisler, a junior at BKW Secondary School: “We eat together every day,” says Tabatha. “The fruit is awesome, and we’d eat the spicy chicken nuggets and tater tots for every meal if our parents would let us.”
Madison Kelly, a junior at BKW Secondary School: “There’s a great variety of food. No matter what I feel like eating, I can find something.”
Dean Junco, a junior at BKW Secondary School: “Because I love chocolate milk. I go to work right after school and school lunch gives me the energy to get through the day.”
Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School District
Paiten Smith, an 8th grader at Golding Middle School (C-RCS): “It’s satisfying. I never bring a lunch. I like pretty much everything they serve.”
Matt Jorgensen, an 8th grader at Golding Middle School (C-RCS): “It’s filling. I like when they do breakfast for lunch – sausage, French toast and hash browns. I’d eat it for dinner, too!”
Bethlehem Central School District
Rubal Joshi, a junior at Bethlehem Central High School (BCSD): “I like buying lunch at school because every day there are a variety of things to choose from including several healthy options.”
“I like buying food in the cafeteria because it is convenient and open for much of the day,” said Meghanne Wright, a senior at Bethlehem Central High School. “I prefer snacks to a big lunch, so I will stop in and grab something small in between classes when I can.”
“Last year, they introduced paninis to the menu,” said Erin Baumgras, a senior at Bethlehem Central High School. “I bought one today and I am taking it with me to my photography class. They travel well. It is warm and pretty tasty.”
We get that not everyone enjoys school lunch as much as these students do, but we think they paint a pretty good picture of why they, along with some help from the nation’s other students, eat 5 billion school lunches every year.
Copyright ©2015 by Parent Today and Capital Region BOCES; Used with permission