At Panther Creek, school lunch is served every day, and most students eat it regularly. In a recent poll, PCNN found that twenty-three students bought their lunches from the cafeteria, while seventeen students chose to bring their lunches from home. There are many reasons why some kids buy school lunch instead of packing. For one, you don’t have to pack it, which saves more time in the morning. Also, some kids prefer a hot meal over a cold one. Wake County schools provides free and reduced lunches for students who qualify for that program. For those that  buy school lunch and answered the poll, nine students said they liked school lunches, and fourteen said they do not. Sophomore Tyler Warren-Reed said that he , “really like the schools pizza”. However sophomore Lacie Bethers would like a change, she says “they need to make the cookies bigger and give us more than one”

There are many reasons why students bring lunch from home, as sophomore Elise Moralez said, “I don’t buy lunch because I prefer more of a variety of food.” School lunches can be a very unsanitary and spread germs, especially since they are buffet style, and despite initiatives nationwide to improve them, Wake County hasn’t seem to take up those initiatives. Out of twenty-three students, four students believed the cafeteria food was healthy, and nineteen insisted it was unhealthy. On a weekly basis, pizza, chicken nuggets, nachos, and hamburgers are part of the menu. With these types of choices, some students try to make healthy decisions by packing lunch.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Alex Robertson

One school lunch tray purchased by a Panther Creek student