School lunch costs $2.68, and reduced lunch is $0.25. School lunch is expensive if you add the price of $2.68 and the luxury of a bag of chips or a Rice Crispy Treat. And for the parents who have more than one student that goes to school, the price quickly adds up. For a parent with two students, lunch may cost a total of $30 a week. In addition, many students prefer to bring their own lunches to school.

Freshman Class President Kate Cullen said she has not bought a school lunch since the seventh grade. She said, “My family spends about $25 a week on just my sister and I for lunch. Plus, all of my friends bring a school lunch. Sometimes we share them, too.”

Freshman Grace Kilgore also has not bought a school lunch since the seventh grade. She said, “I like to pack my lunch and choose what I like.”

According to School Food Focus, a typical school meal contains “chicken nuggets, a whole-grain dinner roll, steamed corn, meslcun salad, low fat milk and a fresh pear” (School Food Focus). But Kate said, “One of the benefits of bringing a school lunch is that you can bring what you like.” Grace said, “You get to bring what you like and bring as much as you want.”

Serving portions in the cafeteria are usually scoops. Students select their vegetables and fruits.

Students probably do not know where the foods that are provided by the school lunches come from. Grace said, “I prefer to know where the foods in my lunch came from. I normally pack things like a sandwich, chips and oreos because I know where they come from.”

Other factors influence students to not buy school lunch. Kate said, “I don’t like waiting in line.”

Freshman Cymmone Yancey said she stopped buying school lunch because she does not want to put up with the discrimination against students who have allergies. She said, “I stopped buying because I was very upset with the reduced lunch. One time, my account ran out of money. So I got the reduced lunch. I was upset because I’m lactose intolerant, and all I was given was a grilled cheese sandwich, milk and an apple. So all I could really eat was the apple. They used to have ham sandwiches, but it was cut out because of the budget. It still makes me upset because I think about those kids who have to get reduced lunch and have allergies like mine.”