One can hear the confusion among students as they see that pizza is not on the menu for that Wednesday. This is one way the Healthy Choices Committee is creating a healthier environment at the school.

The committee was formed this year because of the number of people with food allergies, as well as concerns about the many unhealthy hot foods.

Susan Greally, health teacher at the Middle School, said, “Ms. Mike and I both teach health. We both have celiac. We’re both allergic to wheat; I’m a vegetarian, so the options were few and far between.”

According to a recent survey done by the committee, 15% of the student body has food allergies or special dietary restrictions.

Senior Theresa Phoenix, who is allergic to nuts, said, “It can be hard if I need to grab something on the way to a meeting because most people would just make a sandwich, but I really have to stay away from that area most of the time because the peanut butter is there and people aren’t always careful with that.”

Health teachers Susan Greally and Mikelle Sacco, Re-enrollment Contact Coordinator Ani Rooney, Director of Business and Finance Bob Rooney, campus store Manager Lisa Nussbaum and two other parents who are involved in student health run the committee.

Through the processes of implementing healthy foods and eliminating unhealthy ones, the school’s food provider offered a lot of starch without protein. “Now all the options are potatoes, sweet potatoes, two kinds of rice and pasta…you can’t live off that, so now we are asking the students, okay, what do you want to eat?” Rooney said.

Senior Deniz Bengi said she would like to see more variety, adding, “They could serve healthy food the majority of the time, rather and sometimes.”

In order to achieve this goal, some foods and drinks have been removed from the Dining Hall, including weekly “Wednesday pizzas” and four large tanks of Crystal Light. “Crystal Light has food coloring and preservatives in it that are so unhealthy. It affects your behavior, it affects your metabolism, and so one of the first things we had them do was take that out and replace it all with water,” Ani Rooney said. Now, the committee is in the process of finding a substitute for these juices including water with various fruits and vegetables.

As for pizza, the committee decided there wasn’t enough variety in the weekly menu, and resolved that pizza every Wednesday was a bit redundant.

Bengi said, “It would be so much more helpful if we had an equal amount foods, rather than portions with mostly hamburgers, or pizza or pasta.”

Senior Jazmine Figueroa dislikes the healthy changes and had written to the Editor of Tower stating her opinion on the subject. Ani Rooney understood Figueroa’s opinion, thanking her for having the courage to write the letter. “We didn’t know how it was affecting the students and it was nice because it made other kids come in and say ‘you know what are spending our own money for dinner because there aren’t that many options anymore,” she said.

Greally mentioned that the snacks in the bookstore have been a “huge success.” Students crowd a small table in the bookstore to eat chips, vegetables and fruits set up there. Now, the table has been extended and one can hardly walk into the store without bumping into numerous students holding cups of grapes or berries.

“I love that they serve blueberries, and blackberries, and mandarin, and almonds in the bookstore; it’s so practical and definitely needed,” Bengi said.

Soon, the campus store will have a refrigerator aiming to draw students away from the vending machines and more towards healthier foods.

However, Rooney did note that some of the berries and grapes were being found squished into the floors of Masters Hall and all over campus. She said that they would hate to remove the snacks if students continue to leave the food around, regarding it as a safety hazard.

Sacco and Greally continue to ask their health classes for input, and though the committee doesn’t include students currently, they aren’t in opposition to any joining. “It’s going to be a long work in progress, but the ultimate goal is just to make people aware, give them knowledge and to allow them to make healthy choices,” Greally said.