Here at Niles West, our school cafeteria offers a variety of different meals for the student body as well as for staff. However, as of this year, there is no salad bar located in the school cafeteria. Many students have come to the realization that the salad bar that used to be present, had disappeared. So, what happened to the salad bar, and why is it no longer a lunch option for students and staff at West?

Some of the food choices include pizzas, pasta, sandwiches, chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, fries, nachos, burrito bowls and more. These are definitely not the healthiest choice, so there has to be something we can do to bring back foods lower in cholesterol, fats, calories and sodium. Though there are salad packages, I think a salad bar is a must. Almost every school I can think of has a salad bar for students so they can pick from a variety of different salad toppings. With this said, the salad bar will offer not only salad toppings, but it will also be fresh, and ready to eat.

Because there are so many meal options in the cafeteria, I think healthier meals can easily be implemented in the cafeteria with the salad bar.

Many students and staff may have dietary restrictions to the point where the current options are not suitable for them.  Also, students who have reduced lunch only receive reductions for certain foods, however, what if these foods don’t coordinate with their dietary restrictions? For these reasons, a healthier option must be created soon. Students with reduced meals should be allowed to pick a meal that suits their diets. Therefore, it is the school’s responsibility to implement healthier meal options in our cafeteria.

Don’t get me wrong, Niles West does a great job offering various types of meals and food options, however, a healthier option like a salad bar needs to be brought back. I wonder why it was taken out in the first place because a salad bar is an essential part of school cafeteria food. I think that students and staff would be fond of the salad bar being brought back for a fresh new meal option.

I, for one, would love the option of a salad bar at school. It would allow me to eat healthier and have many different salad choices each day. I believe many students will agree with this idea. Let’s bring the salad bar back!