A classmate turns to you and asks, “Hey, what’s for lunch?” As you eagerly open up the daily news bulletin to discover what today’s delicious lunch options are, you read those two dreaded words, Chipper fish. An inedible concoction of a meat that resembles fish and myriad indiscernible condiments, Chipper fish is profane, contemptible, and unappetizing. Yet despite it’s repugnant appearance and taste, every couple of weeks or so this odious dish is forced upon us.
Increasingly, as trash cans overflow with uneaten, and often insipid dishes, and with just a 9.6% approval rate, we often ask ourselves: can we just get rid of Taher? Well, we’ve all heard the saying, “the grass is always greener on the other side”. In addition to many other parts of life, this idiom also applies to school lunches. For a number of reasons, switching food providers is highly unlikely and would mostly fail to solve the problem.
On the possibility of switching food providers, junior class Forum representative Sam Gelb ‘18 says, “I think the probability that we see a switch from Taher is extremely unlikely.” One of the main reason’s switching food providers is unlikely, aside from cost, is Forum’s inability to affect change in this area. As Sam Gelb ‘18 reminds us, “Any contract related questions are outside of forum’s scope of jurisdiction… That choice would have to be made by the Administration.”
Switching food providers is just not in the cards, and that might not be a bad thing, because this isn’t necessarily the problem. The quality of the food actually is not that bad; some meals such as the Santa Fe rice bowl, and chicken tenders are actually pretty good. The heart of the problem lies within the meal planning, which would not necessarily be solved by switching food providers.
School lunches, no matter the provider, just generally aren’t that good. The reality of the situation is that Taher isn’t going anywhere, and even if they were it wouldn’t solve the problem. They are also tasked with feeding 500 people one meal everyday. That’s a lot of people. So maybe we just need to lower our expectations, and try to make the best of the situation by continuing to push for improvements in meal planning and other areas that are more within our grasp.
