The food that Quest provides in the cafeteria is so delicious that I sometimes crave it over the summer. Each hot lunch menu is carefully selected and made. Every tasty cookie is baked to perfection. The cafeteria even has homemade breakfasts with bagels that everyone and their mom rave about.
Quest always ensures high quality and diverse meals. Citrus-glazed salmon and roasted apple with brie and fig jam are just a couple of the notable options. Even though these meals sound delicious to some and are very high quality, I never see many people in the lunch line to try them. Occasionally, I see a few teachers partake, but really, no one else will touch the carefully prepared food at all.
It’s incredibly disappointing to me that the cafeteria staff puts in so much effort for meals to never be eaten. I come into the cafeteria some days to see tons of meticulously constructed hot sandwiches sitting fully stocked in the cafeteria during the lunchtime busyness, with no one coming to take one. I understand that not everyone is going to like what is provided, but this is a school cafeteria––sometimes I just want simplicity. I’m not trying to come off as ungrateful, but I guess my taste buds may not be as open to new foods as the cafeteria seems to want them to be, since the herb roasted chicken and pasta are my favorite meals and are probably the most simple. Honestly, that’s all I’m really looking forward to after a long biology class.
I really only see long lines for lunch when pizza, burgers, pasta, and chicken tenders are being served, which makes sense. These foods seem to be the most agreeable universally among kids that live in the U.S., however, Parker’s mission isn’t to give students familiar experiences, its mission is to create diversity and introduce foreign ideas. This isn’t just carried through in classrooms but in the cafeteria, too. But, is it really worth it to make the cafeteria staff cook such extraordinary meals for them to get eaten by so few people? Diversity is important in the cafeteria, however, if hardly anyone makes an effort to try it, what’s the point?
The most important job of the cafeteria is making healthy lunches that appeal to teachers and students and I think that it matters more than broadening people’s taste buds. It could be beneficial for the cafeteria to take some customer feedback and determine that some meals are just not doing well. The Food Council could help work on this as well and I say this not just for the students, but also for the cafeteria staff to actually have their work appreciated and to reduce food waste.
Another thought is also about those with dietary restrictions, like vegetarians and vegans. The vegetarian options at school are often pretty limited besides a salad or the hot lunch special which often isn’t the most delicious. Tofu with barbeque sauce was offered one day and I was not very pleased. I thought it could have been a better combination than it actually was, which brings me back to my point –– sometimes the options aren’t very good. Salads might not give the energizing fuel someone needs one day and the vegetarian option may not be appealing either, so what are they supposed to do then? As well, vegan, gluten free, and other dietary restrictions that are in the minority are also not as well provided for in the hot lunch options.
Providing good vegetarian and other dietary restriction friendly options is understandably difficult and making the cafeteria agreeable to the majority is a large task as well. I applaud the cafeteria staff for how remarkable they are. Naturally there is room for improvement, but I understand the reasoning behind why we are given such a diverse array of options. I think it’s amazing that even in our cafeteria we are encouraged to partake in new experiences. In the end though, it’s a school cafeteria where the palettes of children should be considered. Some days I just wish there was a little more simplicity.
