The newest item on the lunch menu at San Benito High School is a do-it-yourself salad bar that includes legumes, sweet pea sprouts, hard-boiled eggs and turkey bacon bits along with a heavy dose of personalization.
Last school year, 1,211 students qualified for free or reduced lunch but only 55 percent ate it every day. The district goal—outlined in a special meeting in October—is to reach 65 percent participation by giving students more ownership of what they eat.
“It’s disgusting. They need to switch the pizza,” said Brenda Torres, 16, a junior at the high school, as she reflected on the lunches. “And when we get the teriyaki, the rice tastes nasty.”
The reasons are “complicated” that students aren’t using free or reduced price meals, said Principal Todd Dearden. Statewide, there has been a steady decline in participation from elementary to high school, he said.
“I think high school kids want to do things on their own,” Dearden said.
Students receiving free or reduced price meals “pay” for meals by punching in a number at the register, the same way that students whose parents place money on accounts purchase lunch.
“There’s no stigma attached to it now,” Dearden said. “No one knows whether you’re free, reduced or you just have money on an account.”
But Jim Lewis, the food service supervisor who joined the district in July, believes students do feel singled out. By the time students are in high school, many are paying with cash, leaving those who punch-in account numbers standing out.
“A really big factor is feeling singled out. Like if they participate, other kids are thinking ‘Oh, well they’re poor,’” Lewis said. “There’s like a stigmatism almost.”
Another component of the low participation might be that students are “bored” with the options, Lewis said. That’s where surprises, such as a salad bar where students make their own meal, mix up the routine.
“I knew the salad bar would be popular,” Lewis said. “I had no idea how popular it would be.”
For Lewis, the goal is to take the same ingredients and market them in a way that makes students want to eat the school meals.
“A lot of it is perception. The food overall, in general, has not had the greatest reputation. It’s right there with hospital and airline food,” he said.
When Lewis took his current position at the school, he discovered two boxes of vegetarian burgers in the freezer and knew he’d be lucky if he sold even two of the specialty patties, he said. Instead, he cut them into julienne strips—cooking lingo for thin slivers—and put them in the salad bar, where students took note of the food because it was different and surprising.
“Now, they’re willing to try them,” Lewis said.
It’s not just the students who are eating their greens as part of changes to the school lunch program. The salad bar has attracted a group of teachers who purchase meals when they don’t feel like putting a lunch together or leave theirs at home.
Assistant Principal Jeremy Dirks is one staff member who has become a staunch supporter of the salad bar and passes through the lunch line about two times a week, he said. Dirks was so pleased with the salad bar that he sent an email to the entire staff lauding the food options and encouraging others to give it a try.
“I don’t normally eat healthy and it’s a chance to eat healthy,” Dirks said. “And to be honest, it’s the best salad bar in town.”
When the salad bar first opened in October, about 35 students were putting together their own combinations of leafy greens. Now, that number is closer to 120 youth, Lewis said.
Administrators and staff say the salad bar is becoming more mainstream but it was not so popular that Bianca Gonzalez, 16, a junior waiting for class to start Dec. 18, had ventured to try it.
“I think I went once with a friend and it looks like a bunch of people get it and they like it,” she said.
“I never got the salad bar,” said Jose Silva, 16, who stood next to Gonzalez in front of the school.
Lewis plans to give students even more ownership in lunch by starting a “secret shopper” program, where staff members and students pass through the food lines and rate their meals. Lewis also plans to capitalize on the success of the salad bar by adding a sandwich area where students can design their own lunches Subway style.
“They love the Subway thing,” Lewis said. “Why? Because they have the freedom of choice to make it as [they] want it.”
