Every day numerous students purchase their lunch in the school cafeteria. What they do not know is how much they are truly spending on their meal. While looking at the food one can purchase, only some of the items display their price. If Kaneland is going to change anything in the lunch room, it should be the pricing of food.

According to School Nutrition Association, there are 30.4 million lunches served to students in 100,000 schools and institutions every day. Among those 30.4 million, 19.2 of them are part of the free lunch program and 2.5 million are reduced price. Only 8.7 million of the 30.4 pay a full priced lunch daily. This study shows that as students move from elementary to middle to high school the average cost of lunch raises. The average price a high school student will spend on lunch everyday is $2.42. Spending almost $2.50 on lunch every single day is unnecessary and something needs to be changed.

I believe there are several ways to avoid spending too much money on cafeteria food. One way to avoid overspending is to pack the majority of lunch, then buy a drink or a small snack to go along with it. Another money saving tip is to watch what one buys. Avoid small foods that are unreasonably priced. If students are going to buy something that is a little more expensive, make sure it is worth the money. A great way to save money everyday is buying hot lunch rather than ala carte. Hot lunch costs $2.00 everyday, where ala carte prices range.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, changes in the food in the cafeteria leads to higher costs. Replacing the junk food with new healthy options increases the price for students lunch. In 2005 an average meal costed $1.04 per lunch and after adding the required healthy options, it was raised by 8.5 cents per meal.

Students at KHS agree that food is overpriced in the lunch room. Students think that buying ala carte makes buying lunch more expensive. Senior John Delach buys ala carte quite often throughout the week. When asked how frequently his account lacks money, he says it is not too much throughout the school year.

“Not as often as I used too, but the food does make your account run out quickly,” Delach said.