Students are “Hangry”

Students+are+Hangry

Madison D'Aries, Staff Writer

Many Westhampton Beach students are outraged by the new policy that has been put into action, declaring that no food deliveries are allowed to be made to the high school. The first thing that pops into all our minds: No more Hurricane Deli egg sandwiches.

We are now stuck eating the cafeteria food, and on behalf of the student body, I can safely say that it is not out first choice of lunch.

Our limited lunch menu had always been rescued by the various local eateries. From my own personal experiences, I can firmly state that the food choices in the cafeteria are not only unappetizing, but they at times can be unsafe to eat. I’ve encountered rotted fruit, hair in my salads, and undercooked frozen pizza. A deli sandwich couldn’t save those meals because I had truly lost my appetite.

The showed the picture accompanying this article (a real photo taken of an apple from a lunch I bought last year) to  Mr. Naim Walcott, who coordinates the staff and the lunch options.  His reaction: “It’s not shocking, we buy fresh produce every week for the school. Prior to my arrival, we had canned fruit that was being served. It’s because of the fresh fruit that there will be the occasional rotted piece of fruit; in this case it was an apple. Something like that is not uncommon. If it was something that came out of a package, then you’d see a look of concern from me.”

The majority of WHBHS students are opposed to the no delivery policy. Even parents have left lengthy comments on Facebook statuses stating their unhappiness. It was easy to find anyone who agreed with me on this topic. Juniors Alec Small and Jason Floegel are two students who are unhappy.

Alec stated, “We don’t want to put our parents hard-earned dollars towards the terrible, disgusting school lunch. When we can order three eggs with two crispy slices of bacon and melted cheese on a warm roll. I would rather have an egg sandwich five days a week from Hurricane Deli than have the school lunch. This is absurd.”

Jason added, “It takes me at least half the lunch period to choose my lunch because only three options are given. I’m then forced to eat a carbohydrate-filled bagel.”

Mr. Walcott shared his opinion on the no delivery policy. He said, “I think our food’s better. I don’t really have a big opinion on it. Since it was put in place, I have had three different student meetings to talk about what they want. I was with student government this past Monday and we’re going to be starting a fried eggs station. We’re going to try to offer more options to try and fill those gaps that the students want. The more feedback I get the better – it helps me to do my job.”

Hopefully the new changes to the lunch menu Walcott described will change the students’ tune about the no delivery policy. But until then…bring back delivery!