By Diya Ramesh (’23)

Picture this: You were having a normal day at IA. Everything was absolutely perfect, until…. you get a text from your parents, saying that they are busy at work and cannot pick you up until 5:00. You, knowing that they work hard and not wanting to trouble them, simply type back a thumbs up, but inside, you begin to panic. . You don’t have any food! Your stomach growls with pangs of hunger, reminding you that you haven’t eaten in a few hours and won’t for a few more. You have money, but there is no place to spend it. The cafeteria doesn’t sell food at this time, nor is there a bake sale. It wouldn’t matter either way, though, because you’re trying to eat healthy food, and both of those options contain mostly just junk food. 

Then, suddenly, you remember the Food Pantry, and as a wave of hope rushes through you, you dash down to Mr. Tecmire’s room. You throw open the cabinet’s doors, only to find it barren and empty. Unfortunately, his “Experiment in Communism”, as he calls it, isn’t working. So, with a heavy heart an empty stomach, you trudge down to the Media Center, resigning yourself to your fate. Sound familiar? It does to me too. As you have probably noticed by now, our school does not have any options for food afterschool, except bake sales and the Food Pantry. As previously mentioned, bake sales are not consistent and only contain desserts and junk food, while the Food Pantry is almost always empty, despite being restocked constantly. The cafeteria does sell food at certain times in the school day, but not afterschool, and there are very few healthy options, besides a couple of pieces of limp produce. 

We do not even have a vending machine for snacks. This has to change because the best minds are those ones that are nourished. Understandably, the cafeteria needs employees to run it, so changing anything to it will not help solve this issue. While having a place to sell food afterschool would require a teacher to sponsor it and students to help run it, I am certain that there would at least be a few volunteers. If all else fails, the school should at least install a vending machine with snacks to help satiate the appetite of our students.