My name is Michael Trautmann, and I'm writing to you because of my concern with school lunches in your district. Growing up in Kirkland, Wa I attended Robert Frost Elementary, then Kamiakin Junior High, and lastly Juanita High School. Looking back at my time in this district, I liked what it had to offer. I was able to play sports for my schools, while also challenging myself in the classroom, and was able to meet a lot of life long friends. Though these were some of the more positive times, the school lunches I received at each school were not.
As a first grader starting elementary school for the first time, I was definitely nervous. I knew a few kids in my class since they lived close to me, but the rest were nameless faces. On that first day of school I recall receiving my first school lunch. If I remember correctly, it was a stale piece of pizza, a semi-frozen mound of peas, and chocolate milk. The only thing I completely finished was the milk. I tried to eat the pizza, but began to feel sick after the first bite. Following that day I never bought school lunch again during my time in elementary school. Many of my friends also brought their own lunch from home, due to the poor state of school lunches, but there were a few who still bought lunch. I remember waiting to see what the school had made for lunch, to see if it was something worth eating or if it was just mush. Being young children, whose bodies are still developing, you'd think children would be served better food but sadly they are not.
As I moved on up to Junior High, I was excited to try the school lunches as I had heard they were much better than Elementary school. To my surprise I was right. Though I bought school lunches, I still brought a lunch from home three days out of the week. The reason for this was the unhealthy food choices the school offered. Everyday there was pizza, burgers, and sandwiches, along with an array of desert. Oh the desert! For a dollar one could purchase three cookies, and for $1.25 one could purchase a huge cookie. If I think about how many cookies I purchased at Kamiakin, I get sick. Though Kamiakin's lunches were better than my elementary school, they were also much more unhealthy. On days were I bought lunch I usually got a sandwich, a bag of Doritos, a bottle of Gatorade, and occasionally the three cookies for $1. On these days I always found myself losing energy a lot quicker then on days were I brought lunch from home. I attribute this to the high sugar and fat that were in these meals. Though I could've chosen to eat something else, there weren't many other options.
Upon enrolling in Juanita High School, I assumed that the lunches would get better since we were in high school now. When I use the word "better" I mean that the school would provide healthier options and more variety. On the first day of high school I chose to buy lunch, in order to test my hypothesis on better lunches. I was devastated to find that lunches in high school were actually worse than in junior high. Though Juanita's lunches had a little more variety, I found that the food lacked quality. After my first day of high school I always brought a lunch from home, unless we were going off campus to eat. Even on days when I'd eat of campus I found myself eating better. Though many of my friends enjoyed eating at McDonalds, due to how cheap it was, I chose to go to Safeway. Generally I'd buy a sandwich from the deli, and a smoothie from Jamba Juice. Compared to the lunches available at school, this was a much better option. Obviously I wasn't able to eat like this everyday, since it got old after a while and I didn't have the budget to eat at Safeway everyday.
As I look back at the lunches I received during my time in public school, I fear for current and future student's health. Though many of my friends chose to bring lunch to school, not everyone had that luxury. I knew a few students, due to their family's financial situation, that had to buy school lunch everyday. Though these students were in rather good health since they were quite active, I noticed them getting tired after lunch. I believed that the lack of energy following lunch time is attributed to the low protein and high sugar in meals that are being served. As the United States has become more obese, I believe that it is important to serve healthier meals to our youth. If they can learn at a young age to eat healthy, then those habits will continue throughout life. With students eating healthier, I believe that their schooling will be affected in a positive manner. With students having more energy due to healthier lunches, they will be more willing to learn since they aren't having to deal with the effects of sugar in their lunches. I hope this letter impacts you enough to make a change, as you have the power to implement this change. If you choose to make a change to school lunches, I see not just schools in the Lake Washington School District improving, but schools all over the nation improving. If other districts see the positivity of creating healthier school lunches, they are very likely to also make the change. I hope you truly consider my request, and thank-you for your time.
Sincerely, Mike Trautmann