This petition is for:

Austin Bonta (Portage Mayor)

Dawn Kelley (Food Service Director)

As a student at Portage High School, I've experienced firsthand the monotony and lack of nutritional value in our school lunches. Many students share my sentiment, often choosing to skip lunch altogether rather than eat what's on offer. This is not just about taste - it's about health. Regularly missing meals can lead to a host of health problems, particularly for growing teenagers who need all the nutrition they can get.

Our current menu lacks variety and fails to cater to different dietary needs such as lactose intolerance. Having the same meals each week is not only boring but also deprives us of a balanced diet that includes different kinds of nutrients from various food sources.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), students who consume a healthy diet are more likely to excel academically. Yet how can we achieve this when our school lunch program does not provide us with enough healthy options?

We're looking for our voice to be heard or atleast recognized by our community leaders. For starters introducing more healthier meal options, accommodating dietary restrictions, and rotating menus regularly for variety.

Just this past school year I have asked and interviewed several parents that have kids going to a school in portage. I got many of the same responses for example:

“My granddaughter doesn't eat the lunches either same every week. She just sick of the food.”

“My kid stopped eating lunch at school.”

“My kid is so sick of cheese. And pizza and PBJ.”

“There is not enough food for the teenagers and my twins often come home telling me that the school ran out of food so they got nothing for lunch.  My daughter rarely eats because the free food is so terrible and the high school is so big she can't store her lunch.  No one uses the lockers.  Every time someone complains about the school they brag that everyone gets free meals.  Well that's nice but it would be nice if the food was edible and had like real vegetables and fruits.  It's so sad when you see school lunches from other countries and then our kids get over processed garbage for meals and don't even get that if the school "runs out of food"

“The Portage elementary school lunches offered to my son were a joke. What got me was how the school would give him a hard time about his snack he brought from home not being healthy enough right after they gave away free frosted donuts for breakfast.”

Not to mention a good percentage of students look forward to school lunches because they may have limited access to food at home or in a situation where they can’t always pack a lunch for school. 

Everyone deserves access to good, healthy food at school - let's make sure our schools provide it! Please sign this petition if you believe in better lunches for Portage students.

I feel that as a student at Portage High School my voice needs to be heard!