Frances Donahue
Each day from 10:48 to 11:14 a.m., the cafeteria is filled with sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students eating lunch. While the cafeteria may not have changed over the summer, there are a few changes to the way the lunchroom works this year. First of all, at the end of last year, New York State passed a law that provides free lunch to public school students. Additionally, there is a new program that started this year where there are reusable metal utensils in the cafeteria for all students, grades K-12. These have caused some change in the lunch room; however, they’ve been generally well-received by the Middle School student body.
Earlier in the year, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul added free school lunches to the budget, creating free school lunches for nearly 2.7 million students, which, according to Gov. Hochul’s website, will save the average family $165 on groceries a week and minimize the number of students going hungry. According to educationdata.org, nearly 750 thousand children in New York state are food insecure. At Haldane, breakfast and lunch are provided for free. Still, a message sent to the Haldane community stated, “Students will still have the opportunity to purchase snacks and extra milk, and are encouraged to pay through MySchoolBucks.” However, at the moment, snacks are not available for purchase for Middle School students. Despite the lack of snacks for sale, the free lunch program has been well-received by many members of the Haldane community. Eighth grade student Parker Fyfe stated, “Free school lunches are great! It’s a great way to get food for kids that need it. However, I am a bit worried about what will happen in the future with the government shutdown.”
In addition to free school lunch and breakfast, the Haldane cafeteria has a new change in regards to utensils. Last year, the Middle School student council, led by advisor and math teacher Tom Virgadamo and then-student council president Allegra Clementson, now a ninth grader, applied for a grant from the Haldane School Foundation. This grant requested funds to buy metal utensils and a dishwasher to properly clean them. The metal utensils are reusable, strong, durable, and better for the environment. However, there have been a few incidents where students have accidentally thrown away their utensils when disposing of their leftovers. Fyfe stated that she believes that, “we should implement a system to make sure people don’t throw them away on accident.” Some students also said that they felt slightly peeved by using the same utensils as their peers, even though they had been washed. Seventh grader Amalia Timm said, “I don’t really like to use them, but I think it’s much better than the plastic utensils.” She also said, “ When I put my utensil away, it doesn’t look like there are a lot in the [bin]. Maybe people don’t use utensils, but I hope they aren’t throwing them away.”
Despite many changes to the lunchroom this year, most students seemed to be supportive and even impressed by the changes. When asked about the changes, eighth grader Isla Hudson said, “They are both really good and should be continued!” Seventh grader Luna Stracci also shared similar sentiments, saying that free lunch is “good”. While there are some mixed opinions on the utensils, the new changes have been generally well-received. Eighth grader Zade Matthews said, “I love the free lunch, and I think that the reusable utensils are an awesome way to limit waste.”