Lunch time is something that students look forward to. Whether it is due to getting a break from class and work, meeting with friends, or eating food, students like the break. Unfortunately there isn’t enough time to enjoy most of it. We have twenty-five minutes to get there, stand in line, and eat.

Depending on when you get there or when your table is called or even which line you go to, you could be standing in line for 5-10 minutes.You still have fifteen minutes to eat,but that’s if your table is called first. If not, then you wait, stand in line for 5-10 minutes, and just as you sit down to enjoy your lunch, they start to bring the trash cans.

“Studies have shown that when kids have 20 minutes or less to eat, they will eat less food and skip the fruit. Even if fiber and vitamin-rich foods end up on a kid’s tray, that doesn’t mean the kids have time to eat them, and this food often ends up in the trash,” said Ki Sung in her article published in KQEQ  “How Students Would Improve Their School Lunch Experience.” 

If students don’t have enough time to eat, they don’t finish their meals. So what gets thrown away? 

“Students, in all grades, waste vegetables and fruit the most, representing more than 50% of their plate waste,”said Jeff Mulhollem in his article published on the PennState newspaper “U.S. school cafeterias waste more food than those in other developed countries” 

Students at MVHS feel the pressure to finish their food quickly or not eat at all.

One student attending MVHS, Jamyah Gillard, 10, said, “I think that the staff should start releasing people earlier or releasing more at a time so kids can have more time to eat instead of waiting and then getting side-tracked.”

Although there are many cons to not having enough time to eat at lunch, there is one pro. We may not  have enough time to get our nutrition, but at least we have a few minutes away from class. And students love that, almost as much as they love food.