Review: School lunches continue to provide students with tasty meals

The district implemented a pick-up system to continue serving lunch to students even in distance learning. Having always brought lunch from home, I was curious to try out the district’s school lunch program for the week of Nov. 2 to Nov. 6, especially because of the special partnerships with restaurants like Pick Up Stix.

Monday’s lunch was the turkey, ham, and cheese croissant. After following the heating instructions and microwaving the sandwich for 90 seconds, the croissant was still stale. However, eating the sandwich as a whole, the staleness of the bread was covered up by the other ingredients. The sweetness of the side cookie helped to balance the savoriness of the sandwich.

Tuesday’s lunch was the cheeseburger twins, a personal favorite. After heating, the bread was not as hard as Monday’s lunch. The patty was very savory and had a smoky flavor that combined well with the cheese. With some ketchup, the cheeseburger twins were perfect. If I had to just choose one lunch for the week, it would simply have to be the cheeseburger twins.

I was most excited for Wednesday’s lunch since Pick Up Stix would be served. I had Pick Up Stix before, and I enjoyed the food, so I hoped that would be carried over to the school lunches. Opening the food carton, there was an underwhelming amount of firecracker chicken and an overwhelming amount of rice. The chicken had a slight tang and heat that was not too overpowering for me. Unfortunately, there was not enough of it, and most of my lunch that day was rice.

Unlike Wednesday, I was least excited for Thursday’s lunch. I have seen friends eat the mini pepperoni pizza at school before, and I did not think I would enjoy it. But, the pizza was a pleasant surprise. I especially liked how there was just the right amount of crisp to the crust. However, there was very little meat in the meal, only small cubes scattered sparsely throughout.

For Friday, the lunch did not come with the scheduled hamburger. Instead, I had the mini hotdogs. The hotdogs were decent, but I did not think the portion was enough because the side dishes were not filling. To fix this, one more mini hotdog could have been added, or the district could have given one regular-sized hotdog.

The school lunches are great for students especially because they are free. The food was tasty overall, but some portions could use some modifications to ensure that students are completely fed. School lunches are available to students 18 and under every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and can be picked up at every school in the district.