One of the biggest complaints students have is school lunch, and this is definitely true in Yutan. This is why Yutan’s principal, Stefanie Novotny, decided to start a new program called Lunch a la Carte to give students more food.
“In my previous school district, we had a Lunch a la Carte program, and it gave students more options for lunch. This was an opportunity for students to purchase additional items to eat or to save later to eat before a practice or a game. I noticed that students wanted to go to the vending machines in the afternoon, so I thought that it would benefit our students to find items they like to purchase at lunch,” Novotny said. “I never want to see a student be hungry, so if we could provide more options, that would be great for our students.”
Novotny shared the idea with food service director April Abraham, who figured out the logistics and schedule.
“It has only added a little extra prep time to our daily routine and to my weekly ordering. I feel that the extra time is worth it if our students are enjoying the program,” Abraham said.
Once the program was initiated, deciding what to offer was a challenge because of the strict guidelines they have to follow.
“Because we have the federal lunch program, we have to make sure that we follow the healthy, smart snack guidelines. For the drinks, they have to be 100 percent juice, and so there’s only so many things that we can sell, so we have to make sure we follow those guidelines. Then food, again, has to follow those guidelines. It’s kind of limited on what we can offer,” Novotny said.
Not only do Novotny and Abraham have to worry about the guidelines, they also have to think about what the students will be interested in.
“Another challenge is just finding what kids like. We’ve tried a lot of different varieties of different things. Some things sell really fast, and some don’t. Just trying to find what kids like is challenging because we want to make sure that it’s something that kids want to purchase,” Novotny said.
Currently, the options include chips and flavored drinks. The prices range from $0.75-$1.50, and only students with a positive lunch balance can buy them. These options are offered every day, regardless of the regular entree.
“I like the extra food and drinks because if I don’t like a certain option at lunch, then I will always have that option to buy different food,” sophomore Lexi Engel said.
Like many students, Engel is using this option at lunch regularly.
“I normally buy at least two or three things each week. I normally don’t go and get two things per day because it does cost money at the end of the day,” Engel said.
The cost can be a concern or struggle for some students, but Novotny aims to make the options accessible to everyone.
“We didn’t want kids who were negative (in lunch balance) to continue to go negative, and so you have to have money in your account to be able to purchase it, but anybody can, and you don’t even have to get lunch. If you just want a juice, you can come up and get it as well,” Novotny said.
Despite the extra cost, most students are enjoying the improved options.
“They cost a little bit more expensive than the regular lunches, but there’s a lot more advantages because there’s actually a lot better food, better options and you get more food,” senior Tannen Honke said.
There are still some adjustments that the students think could be made, however.
“I would add some sweet treats that can also be on the side of their options for choices or another thing would be candy bars,” Engel said. “It’d be good to have a variety of choices.”
While changes may continue to be made in the future, for now the students and lunch staff are enjoying the extra options to eat at lunch.
“I do feel like this was a positive change. It seems like the students are enjoying the extra options at lunch, and I want to make sure all of our students are happy and well-fed every day,” Abraham said. “I do feel like these additional options are helping to accomplish that.”
