Finally, it’s my lunch period. 

After walking through hall after hall, waiting in a long line, getting my lunch, meddling with the brightness of my phone to get my ID to work, I’m finally ready to sit and eat.

One problem: the food is iffy at best.

Fortunately, I have some spare change to purchase a drink at the vending machine or a snack at A La Carte. 

“Typically, the quality of that’s a lot better than the regular school lunch,” sophomore student Brooklyn Bolack said.

Lack of variety is an issue with school lunches, and so is the questionable food quality.

But where does the food served to us come from, and how is the food prepared?

“We receive food deliveries via semi-trucks at the high school and central kitchen three times a week,” said Martha Lawson, the district food service supervisor. “Food is prepared at the central kitchen and delivered to all 12 schools in the district. The high school receives their own deliveries and prepares most of their own food.”

Certain products are bought locally, some produce comes from across the country due to the time of year.

“A lot of produce comes from Liberty Fruits in Kansas City,” Lawson said.

“Some of that is local, but where we get the food varies based upon season. For example, our lettuce comes from Arizona at one point in the year and then the crops in California start supplying our lettuce,” Lawson said.

Last year, the district bought 74,890 apples. Buying that many from a local farm may not be feasible.

“We are interested in buying local and are looking for opportunities to work with farmers in order to buy local when possible,” Lawson said. “While a supplier might not be able to provide all of our apples, we can still serve as much as we can that is local. We recently met with Rise Farms and are hoping to develop a partnership with them to provide fresh, local produce in the spring. We are definitely open to working with local food suppliers.”

We can also report Food to MealViewer.

MealViewer is an app where you can view meal choices, allergy information, and provide feedback on school lunches.

We don’t have to be subjected to terrible food quality. With this tool, we can not only improve the lunch quality for you, but for everyone.

We can say no more to elephantitis fried chicken, say no more fat free doritos with 3 chips in the bag and say no more to lettuce salad solos.