How far have school lunches come?

As I walked into the lunch line on the first day of school, I saw a sign posted on the salad bar and near the lunch ladies' cashier area. It said something to the effect of how it is now required to have at least one fruit or vegetable with your lunch. This got me thinking on how far these school lunches have come over my four years of high school.

It used to be common to see kids eating from mountainous piles of fries or the grease stains of pizza being absorbed into the cardboard trays. There just wasn't as much healthy eating going on then as there is now. Students were content with their options whether they were healthy or poor choices.

I'm not saying there weren't any healthy choices at lunch two years ago, but there just wasn't any reason to choose the healthy foods. After the lunch program took the major step of making the fries available on Monday and Friday exclusively, and then completely eliminating them, there was finally an incentive to eat something else. In my case, all the unhealthy foods filled me up, but when they cut them, I had to find something as a substitute. I hated leaving lunch hungry, so one day I got a salad from the salad bar. I hate to say it, but it was a perfect replacement for the fries that were no longer available. I had never once before in my high school career thought about getting a salad; I just didn't need it. Even though a large majority of the student body loathes the idea of no fries with their lunches, it's for the better and can only help you in the long run. The new requirement of fruits and vegetables with lunch is just one step forward. For some this idea maybe harder comprehend than for others, but it looks like the lunches are only going to be getting healthier from here on out.

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