Editor’s note: Wellesley Middle School Social Studies students as part of a Civics Action Project have this week taken over The Swellesley Report‘s letters-to-the-editor page. The students are well-versed in their topics, have carefully researched all angles, and are ready to present their opinions to the community. Thank you to the WMS Social Studies teachers for organizing this community-based project.
To the editor:
I wanted to bring to your attention the issue of food quality and accessibility at Wellesley public schools. Some group members and I are doing a project about the food at school, specifically the food at Wellesley Middle School (WMS). The main issues we have with food is that it isn’t always the most accessible for people with dietary restrictions and those with financial insecurity. Also the food quality and availability is a concern with students. If the food would have more nutrients and increased protein, the effects it would have on students academic performance and the students physical and mental health would increase.
Our group emailed the food services director Joe Grillo so we could get a better understanding of what practices are already put into place to deal with these issues. We believe that the issue of financial insecurity is handled the best with free lunches for every student as long as they take a fruit or vegetable. This is a very effective way to get students the food they need along with an incentive to pick a healthy fruit or vegetable. For kids struggling with food insecurity this supplies students with food for a majority of the year. However, how do the students who rely on school lunches get food during half days where lunch isn’t served? Or school breaks? Or even the whole summer? We propose partnering with local food pantries to create a drive through lunch option like some schools did during COVID to combat this issue.
We also inquired about what services are put into place for kids with dietary restrictions. A dietary restriction is something that prohibits a person from being able to eat a certain food, either by choice like vegetarians, vegans, etc. or not, like food allergies, intolerances, celiac disease, etc. Mr. Grillo said that there is an online menu where students and parents can select their allergens and it will automatically cross off the foods that they are allergic to. He also said that there are signs posted in the WMS cafeteria that say what allergens are in the food. As someone with allergies (dairy, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts) I tried out the online menu to see what foods I would be able to eat. I was a bit surprised by the results, to say the least. There were some days that I could have a good healthy meal, other days that I even had options. However, more often than not there were times where I wasn’t able to have many choices. There is also a risk of cross contamination, whereby if my food is made in the same place as my allergies, I could still have a life threatening reaction. I am incredibly grateful that my family has the time and resources that I can bring my own food but there are others who aren’t as lucky as me and have to deal with food insecurity and dietary restrictions. While the online menu and signs are wonderful tools they should not be a substitution for real allergy friendly foods. At the middle schools there are multiple stations that each serve a different food so our group is suggesting taking one of those stations and making it just for people with dietary restrictions. This station could have different practices in place to ensure that all kids have the opportunity for a meal.
Thank you,
Victoria Belmonte and Wellesley Middle School 8th graders hungry for change.
P.S. A big thank you to Joe Grillo for assisting us with the research of this project. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.
