Students are quick to heap blame on their school for ugly ceilings, missing snow days, and parking snafus, but overlooked in the heap of blame shoved toward FCPS is a little shining nugget that someone got right.
I am talking about the salad bar. The salad bar, in the lunch-line furthest to the right of the cafeteria provides students not only with an alternative to an unhealthy lunch, but also with a better lunch. The result of “a confluence of good luck,” the bar is a good option for students looking to make healthy choices in the lunch line, principal Jay Pearson said.
The quality of the vegetables and salad garnishes is far beyond the standard set by lunch classics like the red taco. The lettuce changes daily from romaine to iceberg to a mix of the two. The two salad dressings don’t drown out the taste of the food. The spicy chicken is actually spicy and tastes great slathered in Caesar dressing.
A salad bar is a classic healthy option for lunch pickings. Too often though, they become dirty, under-used repositories of lettuce for corporate braggadocio. Not here. Marshall has started a simple, small, but totally functional and tasty healthy eating option for teens. And unlike the nasty chunks of “salad” served from behind so many sneeze guards, the salad bar is actually something kids might actually eat from.
For many high schoolers, the primary worry when choosing food is not quality though. Many high school boys pick food first by how much, then by how good it is. And here is where the salad bar shines. When you buy a salad, you buy a bowl full of lettuce, any of six toppings, optional cheese, a full sandwich worth of chicken, and a pretzel. High schoolers eat unholy amounts of food, and they are well served in this pursuit by the new salad bar, an under-looked positive addition that students should give their school credit for.