Students at Benilde-St. Margaret’s take their lunch very seriously. Most students get a school lunch every day, but there are some that bring home lunches. The food provider for BSM is Taher Food Inc. Taher’s nutritionists create a menu every month with suggestions of what BSM’s staff should serve. Lunch is designed for students to get what they want. There is a hot meal line on the left side of the food area and an a la carte side on the right. There’s also many fruit and vegetable options as well as drinks and sides in the middle by the checkout line. Students use their fingerprints to access their accounts to pay for their meals.
Taher’s BSM food service director is Lynn Lynch who works hard to satisfy what students would like to see on the menu. She takes into consideration when making the menu to incorporate nutritious meals for students. It is important for the Taher staff to add protein and vegetables to each meal they serve. Lynch also works with the chefs to finalize the menu for each month. “We usually take a few days to put the menu together. This gives me time to walk around and ask the students what they would like to see on the menu,” Lynch said.
Many students have strong opinions on their favorite Taher lunch items. Some are the main meal that switches every day, others are the a la carte menu items that are usually the same every day. Senior Delaney Chapman gets school lunch every day and loves the variety of food that Taher provides. She especially enjoys the chicken strips and fries for the main meal or Taher’s infamous cookies and chicken balls on the a la carte side. “I like how they have options in the a la carte line to buy veggies and fruit to make my meal healthier,” Chapman said.
BSM students love how they get to have a voice in what they eat. Junior Emily Niska thinks that Taher does a great job at paying attention to what students are buying. She enjoys that they offer different options every day. Niska says she would like to see more customization opportunities. “Students might not want a certain topping, but since it’s already pre-made then they should do a better job of preparing variations for students,” Niska said.