Orono has a variety of lunches, and students have a wide range of opinions on them. Lunch is something all students look forward to during the day, whether it be for the food, or for the conversation. Recently, Orono has expanded their menu and is currently working on expanding more.

The menus at Orono are created based on the number of sales each item gets, nutritional value, and how easy it is to prepare for 700-900 servings in a given time frame. Each year, the school tries to incorporate new things into the menu. Within the past, and following weeks, Orono has introduced at least 3 new lunch items: beef sambusa, greek chicken on flatbread, and Korean meatballs. Students seem to be enjoying the new change in lunches, but some wish the old lunches would be featured more often.

“I wish the chicken strips were served more often, they’re my favorite lunch because I can eat them with the Chick-Fil-A sauce, and I love the Chick-Fil-A sauce.” Junior Sophie Berbig said.

“I wish the school would serve special delivery pizza more often because I know where it comes from and I trust it”. Sophomore Abi Torres said.

Although Orono provides daily nutrition through lunch and breakfast options, there are many people who bring a home lunch everyday, due to the unappealing looks of some of the meals being served. “I don’t get the school lunches because they’re very processed.” Sophomore Gianna Parrish said.

Seeing food like meat patties being soaked in water before being served tends to gross students out, forcing them to bring lunches from home. “I don’t eat the school lunches after seeing the meat being served in water.” Sophomore Maya Zimba said.

Although the lunches are now free, some believe this is the reason the meals have an unattractive look. Sophomore Alex Tufvander reasons that the school should return to paid lunches, in order to allow for quality food. Because some families rely on the lunches being free, another option she came up with was having lunches be free for those who need it, and those who don’t should pay.

Orono is constantly working to better itself, and its number one priority is the students. Nutritionists at Orono love getting feedback from students, and strive to make the mass of students happy with the lunch selections.

“​​We love to hear what students have to say as they are our #1 customer. If they have suggestions they can submit their feedback on the nutrislice app or email me directly: [email protected]. We also meet with a group of students to test out new menu concepts and hear feedback on our current offerings. We love meeting with them and hearing what they have to say.” Head nutritionist Jacklyn Deroma said.

Orono gets their food from Nutrislice, a foodservice company that allows access to nourishing meals. When looking at the menu, it’s clear that the most served meals are forms of chicken (popcorn, strips, orange, teriyaki, and general tso’s), and pasta (either with meat or alfredo sauce). According to a poll that was posted to the Spartan Speaks newspaper, the most popular meals are pizza and orange chicken.