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| Taken by Joshua Bright for The New York Times |
Most school cafeterias use the standard white, plastic foam
tray for students to put their meals on. When students grab their trays, they
most likely don’t think about where their trays came from or their effect on
other people. Who knew that changing the
type of tray a cafeteria uses would make such a difference?
On New York
Times, a recent
article from Michael Wines says that schools in the Miami-Dade County are
starting to convert from plastic foam trays to sugarcane trays. These new trays
are compostable and can be created into compost for farmers. Penny Parham, the
administrative director of food and nutrition of Miami-Dade’s school district,
says: “I want our money and resources for food going into children,
not in garbage going to the landfill.” By having compostable trays, money will
be saved in the long run. Six school districts are also trying to provide healthier food for the students. "Using recyclable plates or serving healthier chicken" says Eric Goldstein, chief executive of school support services in New York City, "sets an example that students may carry into adulthood. "
After
reading this article, I started to think about the extra money: What will the money will be used for now? I
also started to think about America school systems. What causes schools in America to make the decision to switch the type
of lunch trays they use and other decisions like this one? I assume that eventually most schools in the
nation will also switch to compostable trays because of the amount of money saved. How does these types of decisions affect all the school systems in America?
I think ideally the money saved from changing lunch trays will go towards the students, and improving their learning environment, but it is hard to tell. I think once schools have a larger amount of money to spend, they could get caught up in buying new, unnecessary things. For example, when I was in 7th grade, my junior high bought SmartBoards for every single classroom in the school. There was even one in the drama room. It seemed so unnecessary to put them in certain rooms, because they got no use. They could have put that money towards books, or materials that are a necessity to learning. So, I think that money saved from the changing of lunch trays could potentially go to good use, but you never really know what that money will be used for.
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