This semester, the “Fast Track” lunch line in the main cafeteria began to serve food through the use of “top it” bars. These bars serve Mexican, Asian and Italian foods, as well as potato skins and salads, and they allow students to choose toppings they would like on their lunches.

Sophomore Katherine Long has school lunch two or three times a week and said the addition of the line has allowed school food to be viewed in a more positive light.

“I was not expecting the best from this (change) to be honest,” Long said. “I was expecting it to be pretty bad, but there’s a lot of different things up there. You can’t be necessarily 100 percent healthy, but it gives you an option to put what you want in (your lunch).”

According to CHS cafeteria manager Theresa Quade, the cafeteria planned on including the bars as part of the menu next year, so they wanted to try them out to see whether or not they actually wanted to include them.

“Last semester, there were very few people (in the ‘Fast Track’ line),” Quade said. “We didn’t offer a great deal back there, and now ‘Fast Track’ is a booming place.”

Long said the new options have changed how she views school food.

“(The food) was very bad before,” Long said. “You didn’t have a choice; you just kind of had to get what was on the menu and you had to get it this way … or you couldn’t get it at all.”

She said although the new line has improved the lunch quality, she recommends the cafeteria work on having enough food for later lunches.

“When you get a later lunch, I’ve heard there aren’t as many options because they’re just gone,” Long said. “I don’t have D lunch personally, but people I know have told me about how they get there … and there’s literally nothing left.”

Quade said she encourages students to tell the cafeteria staff their feedback on the new menu items.

“I really would like the kids to get more involved because I want to carry what (they) want to eat because I want (them) to eat here,” she said. “I love (the changes) because … it’s nice to go and have exactly what you want in your lunch.”