Trevor Wu (11) | STAFF REPORTER
Many students rely on cafeteria food every day for various reasons, time, location, enjoyment, laziness. It would be obvious for the school to hire caterers to supply meals at lunchtime, but are they here to earn a profit like restaurants, or hired help to provide nutritious meals? One way to try and determine the answer is through analyzing the prices, but I don’t get to solely decide what is considered expensive or not, so I interviewed some St. Roberts students.
First, here are some facts, after the transition this year to our new catering service, the prices have risen by a small margin. Secondly, the vending machines in the cafeteria contain many identical items to the normal lunch line, but costs more. Regarding the prices of the food, most of the interviewees agreed that it is too expensive. However, there are outliers who believe that it is cheaper than restaurants, and that the price is justified. When asked about the quality of nourishment, most responded not too happily, although again there were some exceptions. Some believed that as students, we shouldn’t have to spend lots of money, and should be provided catering services specific to our financial needs. One interviewee even mentioned, “The portions are small, and the chicken tastes like bananas.” Another student noted that a slice of pizza from a fast food restaurant is cheaper and higher quality than our own school cafeteria.
Many students disliked the increase in prices this year after switching our catering service. Most interviewees believed that the previous costs were decent, not too pricey but not overly inexpensive. Some students think that the vending machines shouldn’t cost more than the normal lunch line, as they contain the same items. There is also another complaint regarding the vending machines having the coin slots blocked. Not all is bad though, one student mentioned they’re fond of the addition of the new menu that displays all the prices, a big improvement to previously.
Overall, it’s safe to say that most people would agree the cafeteria food is somewhat overpriced. Summarizing all the information I have gathered, I believe that people would acknowledge that the food is not severely overpriced, but maybe should be reduced slightly to accommodate students. Majority believe that the quality of food served to us is not on par with the money we are paying. Many students concur that normal restaurants would probably serve a much more consistent meal based on quality and price. Most interviewees disagree with the price increase this year, as well as the vending machine costs. Even though there are many complaints, there is a bright side, some students believe these prices to be cheaper than most restaurants. There are now clear menu prices, and one student stated that the quality of food went up from last year.
