Out with the old and in with the new, Ventura High’s snack bar undergoes changes involving free lunch and a new menu.

Where did our pizza go? As we’re well aware of, COVID-19 has affected many aspects of our lives, one  being our very own school snack bar. If you’re new to VHS, you might not know that the snack bar used to sell a number of goodies that are no longer sold . A few to name would be chips, rice crispy treats, fruit snacks, slushies, and Domino’s pizza. Due to new  regulations, Ventura High has had to change up the menu, which means that they’ve cut down on snacks that are considered unhealthy. 

All new students at VHS haven’t had the same experience with the snack bar that others have. All is referring to freshmen, sophomores, and anybody else who is freshly new to the school. It’s sad that they’ve never known the feeling of cruising on over to the snack bar after a long day of learning to get a slice of pizza and a nice cold slushie. 

Junior René Marks is a new student at VHS, and she wishes that she could partake in the ritual of picking up some junk food from the snack bar. Marks says, “Recently it’s been getting hot and sometimes slushies sound good. And I like slushies.”

As it turns out, not everybody loves pizza. Hard to believe right? Some students haven’t been negatively affected at all by the cancelling of the original snacks. Senior Charles Dwyer says, “I feel ecstatic about it.” regarding  his feelings about the discontinuation of Domino’s pizza at school. The idea of hating pizza might be unfamiliar to some but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so don’t be too hasty to hate on Dwyer if you see him in the halls. Dwyer  also says he  believes that the sleep he gets at night has been exceptionally better since catching wind of the new pizza suspension. Oh, how much power a simple slice of pizza can have over the human mind.

It is confirmed that we will continue to have free food for the entirety of this school year. Louise Smith, the lunch lady in charge, states, “Well I know it’s for this whole year…this whole school year, it will be free.” Although Domino’s pizza is no longer sold here at school, we seem to be getting our goods from a new place called Big Daddy’s Pizza. Is this considered cheating? Some argue that this new pizza is better than Domino’s. “The pizza isn’t Domino’s, it is Big Daddy’s pizza, which is actually better than the Domino’s pizza.” Says Smith. 

Another upside to this pizza is that it is in fact free. This idea of free meals for students was brought along by COVID-19 regulations as an alternative to exchanging money. 

Junior Noah Peterson says, “I always love free food.” It looks as though VHS will not be getting regular snack bar items back for a while, but it’s not all that bad. Soon, the snack bar will give the option for a slushy in place of a fruit that students would normally get with their free lunch. Students also always have the option for vending machine snacks. 

Now, let’s get to the bottom of this adversity, shall we? The reasoning behind the discontinuation of the snacks we know and love is the inevitable need for exchanging money. If your memory hasn’t yet been clouded by the fact that we now get free lunch, you’ll remember that we used to have to pay for this stuff. Handling money before was gross enough, but now that COVID-19 is very much alive and well, this exchange of money just isn’t safe. Money is filthy. Yes, even that crumpled five dollar bill in your pocket there. It’s full of germs that have once inhabited every single person that had it before you. 

Health code regulations are rightfully strict when it comes to the school food area, they want us to be as safe as possible. We are not to be handling other people’s money, so food options are only to change once this rule is lifted by the state. Smith touches on this topic, “Probably a lot of it has to do with money… even the teachers, I can’t accept money from them, they have to go online and put money in their account.” 

Change is inevitable and comes with time, so it’s safe to say that our snack bar is good and thriving despite the menu changes that had to be made. Although many students enjoyed the original snack bar, the new one is quite enjoyable as well. Much thanks to the cafeteria and the snack bar staff for keeping students safe, getting creative with lunches, and of course making them free. Making food, putting lunches together, and having to give them out to so many students is a hard job, but the staff does it gracefully and the students appreciate it greatly.