With the start of the spring semester, the cafeteria has yet again undergone changes. Students may have noticed increased prices, the build-your-own buffet on Luigi’s and Adobe lines or the different menus and individual lunches served in foil.
It all took a turn on Jan. 31 of this year. Mandy Saunders, the cafeteria manager, said she is really focused on the students and their preferences.
“The build-your-own [entrees] give you more choices,” Saunders said.
Saunders said she heard the students’ complaints about the small portions, especially those in athletics. So now the lines have more choices and more things to put on a plate.
“The grab and go food…I think it makes it more interesting to go [look at all the choices],” said senior Andrea Cruz. Cruz buys her lunch in the cafeteria almost every day. She personally likes the changes.
The changes are not just for Vista Ridge, but for the entire district. The state government gives the school board so much money for the food budget, and it is the government, specifically the Texas Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Division, that outlines how much protein, vegetables, etc. to include in meal servings.
“The lunch company we have right now heard complaints,” Saunders said. “Vista Ridge adapted some changes apart from the government to meet requests in many different places.”
Because students were not getting enough food in the cafeteria, the district spent its own money to provide more food, causing increased prices in the cafeteria line.
Saunders said that the state funds haven’t changed so the campus food prices had to increase to pay for what was added.
“The state gives us a certain amount, and they won’t pay otherwise,” said Saunders.
The state doesn’t pay for the snack bar either; that’s all district funds, too.
“[Snack bar] prices are set themselves,” Saunders said. “But we provide the snack bar so that students have more to choose from.”
Despite the increase in portion sizes, some students are upset about higher prices, including junior Diana Ruiz.
“They need bigger portions,” Ruiz said. Since she is in track, she said she needed bigger portions for more energy. But, now the portions are bigger but the prices have also increased. Ruiz’s parents weren’t happy about that.
“My parents thought it’d be better if I brought my own lunch,” Ruiz said. “Unless I really need to—like if I forgot my lunch or something—I don’t think I would eat at the cafeteria.”
So there are pros and cons to these changes—bigger portions, but higher prices. Will the prices continue to change? Will lunches be above and beyond expensive next year, or much reasonably priced?
“One thing about the food industry is that its always changing,” Saunders said. “It changed this this year, and we’ll definitely be changing next year. There are changes all the time.”
