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CPHS offering free lunch due to COVID-19; all students eligible BY ANDREW POESCHL reporter This year, there have been many changes in many aspects of our lives, as well as to the services we use. One such service is the lunches provided here at school. As many students here have discovered, the school is now providing free breakfast and lunch to all students. This new policy helps students who have been left in a financially unsafe position by the COVID-19 pandemic and helps to promote a healthier diet. “With this meal plan our students will need to take three components for the meal to be free. We offer five components for a meal which are grains, protein, milk, fruits and vegetables,” food service director Pam Maloney said. “Grains and protein are together in the entrée, so a student would have to add an 8 ounce milk, or 6 ounces of any different fruit or
vegetable or they can take all of the components. As a nutrition department we would hope our students continue to take the variety of foods offered.” This meal plan is part of a push to get students to eat more healthy food in school, and this new policy has been made with that in mind. Keeping a fully balanced meal has been significant in making this new policy. “We are hoping our students take advantage of the free meals as they need plenty of food to fuel their bodies. A wide variety of foods will give them the nourishment they need to stay alert in class and keep them healthy from day to day,” Maloney said. This will help encourage students who to try and eat healthier foods while at school, though it is not just our school participating in the new program.
“The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a nationwide waiver to provide a safe and flexible meal service to our students during the Coronavirus public health emergency,” Maloney said. “This waiver allows us to offer breakfast and lunch meals free of charge.
relieve some of the financial stress put on families during this pandemic. “This was done to help our families nationwide with any financial burden they may be experiencing during this time,” Maloney said. But not only is the school providing a free lunch and breakfast to all students, the school is also We are hoping our steps to further the students take advantage taking quality of the food they of the free meals as they are serving here. “You may see an ocneed plenty of food to fuel casional dessert made their bodies. with fruit,” Maloney said. “We have a full time Chef food service director on staff, Chef Michelle Pam Maloney Kral, she is experimenting with different ideas made Any ala carte items such as with our fruit that we already Gatorade, chips, etc., will still offer. These items are specials have to be paid for. It only cov- and will be advertised before they are put into service.” ers a complete meal.” With all the changes to the This reveals the new direction schools are going in for school lunches, they may just healthier students, and by pro- improve someone’s life in more viding free lunches is helping ways than one.
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VIEWS on NEWS [Students’ reactions to events in our world
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Nation
State
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I agree that people should stay within their states for now, but I don’t think that people in Chicago are doing so good with case numbers either. Especially with the amount of rioting.
This hurricane season has faced 25 named storms already, forcing meteorologists to dip into the Greek alphabet for just the second time on record, according to The Washington Post.
Kadiel Rosario-Pizarro junior
I feel pretty bad for those people stuck in the hurricane. We could probably get people out there to help them. You can’t really stop a hurricane, so all you can do is just get people out of there.
As reported by The Guardian, parties in which young people try to catch COVID-19 to gain immunity could become the norm if the virus is not eradicated.
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World
Fox 59 reported that Chicago residents are urged not to travel to Indiana because of a rise in COVID-19 cases. Indiana is currently facing an over 15 cases a day average.
Chase Eckhart sophomore
I don’t think going to or throwing COVID parties would be a smart idea for anyone at any age to do, mainly because there isn’t enough information on COVID yet so we don’t really know the effects for anyone completely.
Mimi Vraniskoski senior
