Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 23, 1994 TAG: 9401220037
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-13 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"It's only if you look at the fine print you realize [the poster] actually says, `We called Boyz II Men to see if they love sliced peaches. They told us to get lost in perfect four-part harmony,' " said Wendy Shaver.
Shaver, a senior at Blacksburg High School, was one of several students in teacher Pat Brown's journalism classes who surveyed students about their attitudes toward school meals.
"Kids aren't stupid," Shaver said, adding that she and other students were offended by the poster. "They'd be better off putting up a poster with information on calories. They need to talk about things realistically."
It would be better for school lunch programs and for students if more information about nutrition and the content of school meals was shared with students, she said.
"Kids need to know why. If people knew more about what they're being served, then the reputation of school lunches might improve."
As it is now, "Most food facts don't come from school. Most information comes from the me They'd be better off putting up a poster with information on calories. They need to talk about things realistically. Wendy Shaver Blacksburg senior dia."
Shaver visited Blacksburg Middle School along with fellow senior and journalism student Chris Akins. "I expected the kids to say a lot of negative things and they did. It's cool to hate school food."
"Students seemed as grossed out by school lunches as ever," Akins said.
However, many other students gave her a more balanced opinion about school lunches. "It's the circumstances that frustrated them," Shaver said.
"Some people don't want to stand in line so long. You end up with only five minutes to eat, so it's not worth it," seventh-grader Heather McCoy told Shaver.
"They think it's odd that schools go to such trouble to make good school lunches and then don't give them the time to eat," Shaver said.
Also, students say food portions in school lunches are too small to be nourishing, Shaver said. Many buy more than one lunch just to get their fill.
"I can get as much as I want at home, but here everything is so limited," one seventh-grader told Akins.
Blacksburg High School journalism student Elisabeth Baker, a junior, found many of the same dissatisfactions when she polled fifth-grade pupils at Harding Avenue Elementary.
Those pupils also said they wanted more flexibility in adding or deleting items from the standard school lunch without paying extra.
Cafeteria workers at Harding Avenue told Baker that deep frying has been eliminated to reduce fat content.
New items have been added to the menu to provide a healthy alternative to fast foods - "popcorn turkey" (small chunks of turkey) is the most popular.
However, on any given day, the longest lunch lines at Blacksburg High School will be at the "Trading Post," or snack bar, Shaver said.
"People would rather have junk food."
"All the students interviewed believed that the schools - especially the cafeteria workers - certainly tried to make lunch as beneficial as possible," she said.
"They try to give us a variety. I give them credit for that."
by CNB