Searcy High school has had many changes in their lunch throughout the last decade.

First of all, Searcy decided to take off campus lunch away from all students in order to cut down on fights and substance abuse.

Unfortunately, this decision just eliminates variety and all natural hope for a truly balanced diet.

Also, a large amount of students who feel that they are being wronged by the lack of off campus lunches that most other high schools have  are not the students who abuse substances and get into trouble before school, during passing periods and yes, lunch.

That rule only truly afflicts the students who do not partake in objectionable behavior, the people who brake the rules are not being punished for the very reason they should be punished.

It would not matter as much but the state of Arkansas started regulating what the cafeteria can serve in order to cut down on obesity; a decision that apparently did the exact opposite.

Sophomore Alanis Hodges said, “I think the food in the cafeteria is really gross, and it really isn’t healthy there are lots of oils and fried foods.”

On top of all that, Hodges claims that it “upsets her stomach.”

The way the school “improved” the quality of their food was to switch all kinds of bread to a wheat bread substitute and force students to take a tray of vegetables or fruits.

“They give you the same portions they give to elementary school children,” said senior Julia Williams.

Which is seen by a lot of students as a slap in the face and almost a blatant disregard for their personal wants and needs.

Senior Anna Claire Nicholson refuses to eat at lunch altogether now; She isn’t alone.

Senior Taylor Touche said, “Because of the changes, I have not eaten a single school lunch this year.”

Even senior  Ana Gomez, who claims she eats whatever food she’s given, honestly doesn’t think she is any healthier because of it.

Many adolescents at the school feel like all of these changes are only good in theory, truthfully benefiting none.

Many students can be found at nearby fast food restaurants after school, piling in the sustenance they didn’t get from lunch which causes a lot of students to end up eating four meals a day instead of three.

It’s anti-obesity aim took a 180 degree turn propelling the school’s occupants into a vat of extra calories and inevitably fat.

The other major problem with the system is the extreme waste.

The cafeteria forces you to take fruit and vegetable trays that many find unappetizing, which results in full trashes every day.

There are literally gallons of uneaten ‘health food’ that is discarded at Searcy High on a daily basis, perpetuating our international title as the “country of waste.”

You may think that this is just an inevitable problem, but one Searcy senior has come up with a solution.

“We should assign separate compost bins for putting untouched fruits and vegetables, afterwards we could give the heaps of compost to the FFA and they could use it for their own little garden project throughout the year,” senior Bethany Runyan suggested.

A proposal that not only eliminates waste, but eliminates program expenditures.

Lunch at Searcy High is found lacking pretty much unanimously, there are a few remedial suggestions out there. I hope, for the sake of oncoming middle school students, they quickly find a solution.