Krystal Wayne is a regular editorialist for the Grizzly Gazette. She believes that the new health regulations for food served on high school campuses is a "nutritional fabrication."

Many students may have noticed that the Granite Hills High Cafeteria and snack bars are serving a new menu this year. The question is: is this menu healthy or deadly?

Many students are asking: why the change? Well Grizzlies, over the summer Sen. Tom Harkin presented the idea of the “Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2007.” This act is intended to improve the 1966 act for Child Nutrition. However the act is cited to serve children ‘food to minimal nutritional value.’ The act is also intended to help ‘protect the federal investment in the national school lunch and breakfast programs.’ Sen. Richard Lugar objected to this bill and asked if “schools will lose valuable income from vending machines and snack bar cuts.”

I personally wonder, what does it matter if schools loose a little bit of money? This is about high school students’ nutrition, right? WRONG! This change has nothing to do with our nutrition; it has to do with money. Students, you’ll be surprised to learn that the “nutritional” food served at lunch and brunch has been frozen for days, weeks, or maybe even years. All the food is reheated. GROSS!!! Senior Kyle Ferguson says “When you order a pizza pocket and get a cheeseburger pocket that looks and tastes like cat throw up, then I don’t think that the “ nutritional food” is, indeed, very nutritional!”

Another interesting tidbit is that Granite uses the same food supplier, SISCO, that McDonalds does. For the same price, Granite could have a larger, more extensive salad bar, and daily prepared food. Fresh and healthy.

Another weird fact about Granite’s obscure and fickle food is that soda is no longer served, but Gatorade is. Soda and Gatorade have the same active sugar.

Also, for wanting so desperately to promote health, how is it that everything, “nutritional” or not, is more expensive this year? All healthy food (i.e. salad bar) is more expensive than it was last year. Mrs. Tiffany Ross (Physiology, Psychology and Health teacher) says, “It’s ridiculous. I can go to Save Mart and buy a 24 pack of water for under $4 dollars, but students have to pay $1.25 to buy one bottle!” Way to promote good health: pricing a bottle of water just as much as a bottle of Gatorade.

Another ironic fact is that Granite no longer serves candy, but they serve ice-cream. Pizza is also served, which is bursting with nutritional value when you can see grease dripping off of it, but a Porter Street Barbeque Sandwich is not healthy enough.

Senior Ashley Morison says, “It would be great if someone told us exactly what the nutritional standard was, because I just don’t get it.”

So, please PUSD Nutritional Services, do as Mrs. Ross says and “enlighten the students and staff. If not then I would love it if the PUSD Board of Trustees would come and eat what the students eat food for 180 days and then explain it to me how it is nutritional.”

I am sure, as almost every student and teacher on campus is, that this nutritional fabrication is indeed all about the money. If not, then why doesn’t the superintendent come and explain to students and staff every inch of this nutritional value escapade that our students are forced to eat as lunch.

All cited info, unless stated otherwise came from: wwwGovtrack.us.