In last month’s issue of The Eye, the school’s cafeteria promised healthier meals and clearer nutrition information. Students have already begun to see changes. However, the cafeteria has more exciting plans for the future.
There will most likely be a salad bar where the milk fridge is now, to be installed after Christmas break. This salad bar will include vegetables, meat, and fruit. Salads will be prices by weight, allowing for a quick, efficient check out. The salad bar will be utilized Monday through Wednesday and then converted to a taco bar on Thursday and a Asian Cuisine bar on Friday. This switch will be used to preserve the freshness of the salad bar. Depending on its popularity, the salad bar may run all week to accompany the school’s ever growing population of herbivores.
Additionally, nutrition labels will be implemented. These charts will include scanable QR codes that allow students to access information on their smartphones. Printouts will also be available. This should be helpful to not just those kids and staff who need to watch what they eat, but for everyone. Charts comparing cafeteria food to fast food fare will also be displayed in order to inform the student body of the harms of eating junk.
There may also be another exciting experience headed our way. The cafeteria staff is considering asking renowned chefs from a local restaurants to come and prepare the meal of the day once a month. This should result in reasonably priced, restaurant quality meals that most students could only find in restaurants.
The cafeteria is also experimenting with new food ideas. The cafeteria staff has been choosing random sample groups to test new ideas for the meal of the day. These groups are chosen randomly, and any student is eligible to participate in the sample group. Meals that the sample groups are tasting are also local, with ingredients coming from places like the West Side Market. Look out for your chance to sample the cafeteria’s next culinary experience.
The cafeteria is also taking an interest in our school’s Culinary Club. Cooking classes, taught by both professional chefs and staff members, will be hosted in the cafeteria for club members. This club will hopefully help and benefit from the cafeteria’s new culinary direction.
These changes are not being made just to satisfy the new government requirements. The St. Ignatius cafeteria wants to go above and beyond the requirements and what it is already doing. It wants to become involved in your life as the inspiration for a healthy lifestyle. It wants to give you the opportunity to experience new delicious things that are also healthy for you. So give the cafeteria your input. They value your opinion. It might benefit you more than you think. “
