Recently, food delivery to the school has become very popular among high school teens. If you are familiar with the Harrison area, some fan-favorite lunches delivered by district-approved delivery drivers are from Harrison Bagels, Dimitri’s Gyro Grill, and Anthony’s Deli.  Students think their food is tastier and prepared quickly when ordered. However, as of late, Harrison High has been making an effort to attract more students to the hot lunch served and provided by the school. In doing so, cafeteria staff have incorporated stations into the student union, such as the brunch counter and burrito bar in an attempt to bring forth new options. Without a doubt, the Harrison student body has the privilege of having access to an extensive food selection during the week. With a multitude of restaurants downtown and the convenience of school-provided hot lunch, it’s hard to go wrong with either option. Nevertheless, a burning question remains lingering: which factors influence the Harrison students’ preferred food choices?

The Price is Right

One of the major components that gets considered when deciding what to eat, is the expense of the food. When weighing their options, students may ask, “How much do I really want to be paying for my lunch? how many times have I ordered out within the past few days?, have I exceeded my price limit for the week? Harrison’s provided meals range from expenses of $0.45 to $3.75: – Breakfast: $1.50

– High School Lunch: $2.75

– High School Specialty Lunch: $3.75

– Milk (a la carte only): $0.45

All lunches include an entrée, bread/grain, vegetable, fresh fruit cup/juice, and a choice of 1% white, fat-free white or chocolate milk*. This year, the Harrison school district has created a new custom called “Free Friday,” which is accessible to all students. On “Free Friday’s” the first meal you eat at school (whether that be full breakfast or full lunch) is free of charge. If you’re looking to save money or spend less throughout the week, Harrison caters to this free option weekly.

As for delivery food, the restaurants in Harrison operate on their own schedule. Using “Harrison Bagel’s” menu as an example, the average price of one bagel with a spread is $3.75. At the high school, a regular-priced meal is a full dollar less than that and comes with more subsistence consisting of a wider variety in terms of nutrition selection. However, Kendall, an HHS freshman, says, “Even though the taste of delivered food tends to be tastier than that of school food, the benefits of school food outweigh that of the meals delivered because of their cheaper price.” This is found to be a common opinion among HHS students, who have been making an effort to keep buying school food.

Convenience

When ordering for delivery, the transaction of paying and being handed your food is generally smooth sailing, but on the rare occasions when your order doesn’t come, it can lead to problems. You must be sure to order 25 minutes in advance or else your food is not likely to arrive. On the contrary, school food is always reliable and readily available at all times in the cafeteria. Students have expressed similar opinions to this. Eva, an HHS sophomore says, “I only ever deliver once a week as the cafeteria is more convenient and still tastes fine. I will still deliver because the restaurant food is tastier than that of the cafeteria food, just not always the most reliable when it comes to arriving on time.”  This shows how people will prefer the food of the delivery shops since it’s made with higher quality ingredients, but they will still usually get cafeteria food since it’s more convenient to get every day. Other students expressed opinions similar to Eva’s. “I never deliver food as it’s very inconvenient and not worth the price, which is why I bring my own lunch,” says HHS Junior, Teddy Stevens. This also shows how people will eat alternatives compared to school cafeteria lunch and delivery like, how Teddy brings her own lunch, which is more tasty and the same price as school food.

Taste

Given the difference in cost, one can assume that delivery food is of higher quality or preferred taste. However, school food has been making a comeback as they have recently opened new stations; the burrito bar and brunch bar. Students from all four grade levels have begun to agree with the claim: “I usually order food, but I’ve been starting to get food from the cafeteria more often, as I’ve been starting to like the options from the salad bar” says HHS senior, Emilie.  This shows how school lunch is starting to grow in popularity as these new options are being added, which is starting to appeal to a wider range of people as more food options arrive. This proves how delivered food, even though being highly preferred, is still facing competition with school food. This is as more school food options start to get added. This could change though as school starts to add even more options to lunch, like how the new brunch bar is starting to attract many new people to cafeteria lunch.

Final Evaluation

Ordered food is better to order occasionally as it can be more expensive. School food should be eaten more as it is cheaper and also almost as tasty as the ordered food, with it always being reliable and there for us to eat. Ordered food should still be ordered, but only a couple of times a week. This is because the cafeteria food may not be as tasty as the delivery food, it is way more convenient and cheaper than that of the delivered food. The delivered food can be seen as a weekly treat as you should start finding a cafeteria food you like.

*Sourced from the Harrison Food Service page on the HCSD website