Westminster made a noticeable change in the way lunch is served this year because of the coronavirus. Instead of going to Malone Dining Hall, we pick up our lunch from the Oglesby room and eat in our classrooms. Many students openly complain about the quality of this year’s lunches. Due to the pandemic, lunches are pre-packaged, and it is understandable that they should have lesser quality than previous years. 

 This year the lunch options are very limited. Last year, the cafeteria had a salad bar, panini presses, a sandwich station, and juice machines. Now we either have to eat what the school serves us or get a pre-made salad or cheese and ham sandwich. Many students don’t like the limited options. “I feel like the options are limited because we are used to having the paninis and the salad bar,” says 8th-grader Mary Caroline Gilliland. 

Even the people serving us the food dislike the change. “It kind of saddens me that unfortunately, we’ve had to make these changes because of Covid,” says Jane Kees, the director of Flik dining services here at Westminster. “Not being able to offer the make your own salad bar, the deli, the panini station that the kids love, and unfortunately all that had to be removed just because of the constant touch.”

Flik changed the menu this year and decided to only serve food that can be kept in the paper lunch boxes without leaking. Some of the favorites like nachos, soups, and fries have stopped being served this year due to the inconvenience of the paper lunch boxes.  “A lot of the favorites are hard to keep in the boxes since we have to pre-package it so now we can’t serve it,” says Kees. However, she also said that they receive lots of feedback from students and staff. Every week the entire lunch staff has a meeting to talk about what the kids say they like and dislike.  

As many students have noticed, the lunches are getting progressively better as the school year goes on. 8th grader Caroline Mosley, says, “I liked the fried rice bowl, and the chicken tenders—you can’t go wrong with chicken tenders.” The menu constantly changes, and Flik is thinking about bringing back some of the old favorites. 

Overall, though some students enjoy lunch and others don’t, Flik is doing its best to satisfy the students and staff at The Westminster Schools, all while following coronavirus protocols.