What is the purpose of the cafeteria? To provide students with a variety of foods they would enjoy. As a part of the Cresskill Communiqué and a junior at CHS, I attended a student organization meeting with Mr. Ryan, the head of our cafeteria. Members of the student organization brought up snacks, drinks, and sandwich options that they wanted to see in the cafeteria. I then sent out a survey with these options to see what students at CHS want. Before sharing these statistics, here is some background information:

In the meeting, Mr. Ryan shared some of the health and equipment requirements preventing the cafeteria from functioning as it did before CHS’s closure due to the flood and COVID. With the requirements not being met, Mr. Ryan can’t prepare food for the students. So, other arrangements are made, such as pizza deliveries from Ray’s twice a week and food trucks that substitute for the cafeteria food. In addition, Mr. Ryan has access to cold foods at a facility in Englewood, so he makes the food early in the morning and brings it to Cresskill. 

Even with all the unresolved difficulties, Mr. Ryan hopes that by the start of the new year, all the required equipment and safety measures will be met. His goal is that when the cafeteria opens, the foods the students want will be available. The tricky part is, Mr. Ryan is required to follow certain limitations, such as the amount of saturated fats and sugars. This may contradict the foods students want to eat, but is done for the benefit of our health. 

Did you know CHS offers a package deal that at the cost of $3.75, you can get milk, juice, fruit, and a dish!? This deal serves the purpose of buying food in the cafeteria being easy, quick, and affordable. The purchasing of food in the cafeteria will be the same as previous years. Each student has an account that can be filled with any amount of money and the student simply writes their name or student ID when buying food and the account is charged. Another option is to pay in cash. All of the food is prepared ahead of time for the convenience of the students, and is sold at fair prices.

SURVEY RESULTS:

The first question asked what snacks the students want in the cafeteria. The options were: Skinny Pop, protein bars, Takis, granola bars, fruit cups, and veggies (celery, carrot, hummus mix). Out of 79 responses, the top 3 most selected snacks were: Skinny Pop (49.4%), granola bars (46.8%), and protein bars (41.8%).

The second question asked what drinks the students think would be good additions. The options were: Gatorade, smoothies/protein shakes, cream soda, and seltzer. Out of 74 responses, smoothies/protein shakes (70.3%) and Gatorade (55.4%) were the most wanted drinks, and cream soda and seltzer were tied with 21.6% each.

The third question aimed at what type of sandwiches they want. The options were wraps (chicken/turkey/veggie), ham and cheese, Italian hero, BLT, turkey and cheese, veggie, and bagels. Out of 79 responses, the top three most selected sandwiches were: bagels (73.4%), chicken/turkey/veggie wraps (59.5%), and BLT’s (30.4%).

Lastly, there was an open ended question asking for any other additions students would like to see. When asked about anything else they wanted, 41 out of 49 responses asked for the old cookies to come back, something Mr. Ryan plans on doing!

Thanks to this information, Mr. Ryan will be better prepared to fit the desires of CHS students and give the best cafeteria experience he can!