School lunch and breakfast could be considered a vital part of the school experience.
According to the Food Research & Action Center, a website focused on improving the nutrition, health and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger, school has always provided students with many different varieties of food to nourish and energize them throughout the day, and food is critical to student health.
But although this school experience is a part of most students’ everyday, many Big Sky teens may not know where their food comes from, or how the food system works.
In speaking with Stacey Rossmiller, the Missoula County Public Schools’ food and nutrition services supervisor, and Jennifer Courtney, Big Sky High School head principal, the Sun Journal discovered that there is a central kitchen for all MCPS schools near Jefferson School where most daily food is prepared and sent out to each K-12 building.
However, in speaking with Big Sky High School Head Cook Margaret Been, she said Big Sky makes some food in house.
‘’We do a few things from scratch, like the mainline item everyday is made from scratch, our cinnamon rolls are, and then we just have some like pre-made items as well,” Been said.
Been said students are given a nine-digit school ID number that they can use to get food. Between 11 and 14 options are provided every day, and food is served to anybody.
Options are split into three sections in the lunchroom, one called Burger Alley providing a usual selection of pizza, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, and spicy and normal chicken sandwiches.
The next is called Main Street Cafe, which sits in the middle of the three. This section provides the meal of the day, which changes daily.
The last is called Garden Spot, providing vegetables, parfaits, PB&Js, sandwiches, noodles that you can make on the spot, and sunflower seeds. All three provide mini cups of fruit that vary daily, and small paper bowls of veggies that contain broccoli, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, etc., as well as sauces such as ranch and ketchup.
Been also spoke about her personal opinion on lunch and how it can be of importance to students.
‘’If you’re hungry…it’s gonna be harder to learn, harder to focus, harder to pay attention,” Been said. ‘’I wish every kid would get free lunch, um, I think they should, honestly.’’
According to Missoula County Public Schools website, lunch for high school students costs $3.25 and breakfast costs $2.25.
“If you qualify for free, then it’s free, [if you qualify for] reduced, then it’s reduced.” Courtney said. According to USDA Food and Nutrition Service, The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and private schools that provides both free and reduced priced lunch to students.
Different Big Sky students and teachers also spoke about their personal feelings on school lunch. High school English teacher Todd Johnson spoke about not just the importance of school lunch, but the convenience of it.
‘’For many students, this is their only access to a decent nutritional meal,” Johnson said. Johnson usually gets the school lunch, as he often is struggling to find time to prepare lunch before his work day.
‘’I can trust that there’s gonna be a good, warm meal already prepared, and again, that it is nutritious,’’Johnson said.
Big Sky sophomore Coyote Green spoke about the convenience of school lunch as well.
”I come from a family of not much money, and we rely on – I rely on – school lunch sometimes, so yes, I’d say it’s very important,’’ Green said.
When asked if the food has ever been a significant part of the school experience, Green responded with no.
”It’s just like one of those mundane things in your life, you do it and then you forget about it, you know, it’s not like anything notable,” Green said.
Although lunch may not be considered the most memorable part of school, it is considered very important by many.
”School meals in general are very important due to the fact that there are many families in our community who for many reasons are not able to send their kids to school every day with breakfast or lunch. Unfortunately, there are also students who won’t have access to food until they are at school again,’’ Rossmiller said. ”Students having access to affordable meals at school is a great help financially for many of our families.’’
