Lunchroom changes for 2019

As the saying goes, new year, new… lunch? Between a change in lunch companies, the food consumed, and the structure of lunch, there are some distinct changes from the 2018-2019 school year.

Urbana High School has changed companies from Aramark to Arbor Management Inc. Associate Principal Travis Courson explains that the change in companies is due to “central office making their decisions based on the bids they receive.”

The most striking difference between Aramark and Arbor Management Inc. seems to be the quality of the food.

According to Zoe Bowers, senior, “it seems like they’re trying to make the food tastier. The [pizza] crust is thicker. They’re putting more care into it, but it still has flaws like undercooked tater tots and overcooked fries.”

Despite some ongoing shortcomings, the consensus overall seems to be that the food is better this year.

Isaac Sosnoff, sophomore, has noted that this year “The food seems fresher. On the sandwiches the tomatoes aren’t gross anymore.”

The lunchroom workers have also noted some differences between this year and last year.

According to Leslie Matteson, food service worker, “We have more vegetarian options now and more products to sell. We also make the salad differently now.”

The lunchroom now serves veggie burgers along with the usual pizza and salad. In the snack section, there are more flavors of drinks offered than last year. The salads are also packaged in a more attractive way.

Another distinct change from last year is the structure of lunch hours. Underclassmen are spread out between fourth and fifth hour while all upperclassmen have sixth hour lunch.

As of right now, the administration feels that this change is addressing last year’s concerns about safety but Courson notes that although “[he hasn’t] sat down with the SIs yet but it feels a little better and [we] are able to regulate when people come in and out of the building now.”

This year students have been concerned with the fact that they are not let in during the last ten minutes of lunch and they have to wait outside until the bell rings.

Courson assures that on cold or rainy days “students will be allowed to come in as long as they are not wandering the halls. It’s purely a supervision piece.”

Out with the old and in with the new. This year has proved to hold many changes in regards to lunch; here’s to hoping they make the school environment a more positive one overall.