Sara Khan (10) | STAFF REPORTER
The St. Roberts cafeteria food is a controversial subject among staff and students. There are usually about 7 dishes on the menu at a time. Every day, there are chocolate chip cookies, pizza, french fries, and spicy beef patties available, along with other alternating dishes. The main point of contention is the price of the food. To put things in perspective, one serving of fries costs $4 and one cookie costs $2.
A Grade 10 Pre-IB student, Carissa Kong, eats at the cafeteria every day. When asked about her opinion on the cafeteria food prices, she stated: “I think they’re outrageous. The cafeteria sells [at] extremely high prices. I think generally the quality is fine, but the prices for the quality are expensive.” An anonymous Grade 11 student said that “All of it is overpriced, I could get it cheaper if I went to Costco. They’re doing it purposely to rip us off, cause they know that most students aren’t able to or aren’t willing to walk somewhere else for food. But it’s good that it’s freshly made.” Dominique Leduc, a Grade 12 student, said that the cafeteria food was “way too overpriced. You could get the same amount of fries or maybe even more somewhere else for much cheaper.” Regarding the quality of the food, he said “It’s not the best, could be better.”
Shockingly enough, the opinions of the students and teachers seem to mainly line up on this matter. Mr. Frattaroli, who occasionally eats in the cafeteria, believes that “There’s always a good selection of food, and the quality is usually good. Always love a good spicy beef patty. But the food’s too expensive.” One teacher (who chose to remain anonymous) said that the cost of the cafeteria food is “too high, and I have a full time salary.”
The overall verdict seems to be that the cafeteria is overcharging students. The quality of the food, on the other hand, is decent enough. If the cafeteria wants to earn the favour of their customers, they will have to either increase the portion sizes or drop the prices.
