Posted on 10/30/2007 7:56:37 AM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
Hungry Los Altos High School students who prefer the tasty offerings at a catering truck just off campus may have to settle for cafeteria food if school administrators have their way.
The truck began stopping at the school earlier in the year, and immediately attracted a large following, including some faculty members who like the varied menu offered by Julie Nguyen, the truck's owner.
But district officials are evidently concerned that the cafeteria is losing popularity, and that students may be ignoring the school's healthier offerings. So they've asked the Los Altos City Council to ban the truck from the school's neighborhood.
That would certainly disappoint the many students who lined up on Tuesday with dollars in hand to order cheese steak burritos, fries and sodas from Nguyen's truck, parked on Jardin Avenue next to the school.
Students say the food they get from the truck is better than that offered by the school's cafeteria, which they say is not very appealing. (The cafeteria offered egg rolls, chow mein and milk on Tuesday.) Nguyen, 46 and a Vietnamese immigrant, offers fruit salads, water, Polish sausages, egg salads and BLTs.
"This is real food," said ninth grader Carlos Chavez.
"The cafeteria doesn't have any of this stuff -- burgers and hot dogs," said Roger Peterson, a tenth grader.
The students said they didn't know high school officials were trying to prevent Nguyen from selling her food there.
Last April the high school district proposed to the Los Altos City Council that it pass a "mobile food vendor ordinance," which would ban food-catering trucks from parking within 500 feet of school premises and limit their parking time to 10 minutes, Superintendent Barry Groves said. The council held its regular meeting Tuesday night but took no action on the issue.
The district has a "healthy foods initiative," and students are buying food through Nguyen that the school wouldn't serve, Groves said. It's also a litter problem, he added.
"It does create some issues in terms of supervision and garbage for us," Principal Wynne Satterwhite said, as she monitored students eating near the truck on Tuesday. "When we have 100 kids down here, it means we have to pull one of our campus security persons here to make sure the kids are behaving," she said.
When asked why they buy food from the "taco truck," students rattled off a laundry list of complaints about the cafeteria food.
"It's always the same thing," said tenth grader Alex Amaya.
"It has no flavor," said Pressy Mejia, also a tenth grader.
"No one likes the food in there," said Jenny Montalvo, an eleventh grader. "It's kinda crappy."
Los Altos City Council member Ron Packard, who visited the site Tuesday to talk to students, also bought a burrito.
"As far as I can tell no one has gotten sick from the food," Packard said. While the council is leaning towards banning the truck, he said, if students showed up at a council meeting to talk about how much they enjoyed its food, the council would keep an open mind.
Nguyen said she paid about $120 to purchase a permit from the city to sell food to students. She hired one cook, and began selling the food about eight months ago. She also sells to high school students in Menlo Park, and on a good day, she said, she can make more than $500.
Nguyen also did not know Los Altos school officials were trying to ban her truck.
"I just stop here for the children," she said. "They say good food. They like my food." She used to park down the street and students would follow her down the street to eat, she said.
"If I had a contract with them then I can go in there with them all day," Nguyen added, pointing towards the school. "Maybe better."
A couple teachers, staff and administrators also visited Nguyen's catering truck and bought food.
"It works out real good. The kids just like it with all the diversity. The price is better and the food is better than the cafeteria," said one employee of the high school who did not want to give his name.
I went to HS for one year at a nearby school (Awalt High). Back in those days, we had two(2) “student smoking areas” ON CAMPUS. I can tell you, there was a lot more than Marlboros getting smoked at lunchtime on those areas.
Or so I heard...
A lockdown would probably not fly either. Best alternative would be for the studentws and “poor immigrant” show up at the city council meeting and get the PC weenies head’s spinning between:
1) Passing another law “for the children” and
2) Another arbitrary law impinging on the young people’s freedom and a hard working immigrant just trying to make it.
Yep, PB&Js from home was what I and all my siblings ate all the way through graduation. We were given a little money for milk on the side. I was wondering myself if kids were still allowed to bring their own lunch to school.
School cafeteria food is always revolting . . . it’s the law.
I remember one time when the football coaches threatened to stand the cafeteria manager upside down in a fifty five gallon drum of discarded “cheese surprise” if he ever served it again.
Regarding the schools’ “healthy” menu, spend some time here: http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2007/10/junkfood-science-exclusive-big-one.html Biggest dietary study ever, and most people haven’t heard about it because it didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to.
Ever since Chieu Le founded Lee's Industrial Catering back in 1980, the local Vietnamese community has practicall owned the roach coach, uh, catering truck business in this area. They (Chieu and his brother Henry) are superb businessmen, they found an under served market niche, and filled it with clean trucks, good food, friendly service, and a willingness to add any product the customers desired to their menus.
It's a great American success story.
That’s what I am wondering. What’s the difference between these kids bringing a sack lunch from home and buying a lunch from the truck? In both cases the students do not buy from the cafeteria.
Often cooked to order, from ingredients hand selected that morning. Even the stuff in the warmer was mostly cooked in transit from the last stop.
Compare that to government surplus cheese, butter, and only God knows (and no one else really wants to!) what else that has been quietly bubbling away in the cauldrons in the back of the school cafeteria since last Tuesday...
Does anyone remember the California school district that changed its menu to include ‘healthy’ foods like tofu, bean sprouts, etc. —and the kids left the school grounds to go to the local fast food operations?
I think the cafeteria operation went broke.
When hamburgers and fries are outlawed, only criminals will have hamburgers and fries.
The Principal of my Alma Mater wouldn’t bother with this foolishness. The school is in Malden Square. What would they do, have the city shut the restaurants at lunchtime?
Sure, like the menu my grandkids get at lunch.... pizza, corn and french fries, all at the same meal. All just hunkey dorey according to the government food police.
Yes, and put the students in handcuffs and leg chains to move them from class to class to make sure none escape. A double fence around the exercise yard would be needed, as well. That should be enough to eradicate this market-based solution.
Heck, the taco shop near my high school used to get a line out the door when we went to lunch. So did my buddy’s house nearby, his dad had a keg-erator.
yea and as far as the leftists are concerned, white isn’t a color, meaning the celebration of “diversity” is the celebration of everything except “white”. If Hillary takes over, it will be truly a gov’t of the “diverse”, for the “diverse” and by the “diverse”. Whitey is just an “obligor”.
Here’s one for your nanny state ping list.
That’s phase 3.
Wow, I thought the high school I attended was the only one that had a smoking area for students. lol We also had a Student Lounge where we could buy pop and candy bars for lunch. *gasp* I know! It’s a wonder I survived to tell the horrific tale! :O
I am sooo sick of hearing the school lunch BS. The lunch menu when I was in school would have never been approved today, yet there were very few overweight kids. That seems to indicate another cause for the number of overweight kids today.
Many times, the parents screeching the loudest about forcing schools to offer “healthy” food for lunch are the same parents throwing fast food at their kids nearly every evening for dinner and shrugging their shoulders because they can’t seem to drag the little darling away from video games and TV. They want to place responsibility everywhere but directly upon their own shoulders.
Interesting link!
IMO the ‘healthiest’ eating is in the palm of your hand.
Hold up a fist and realize your stomach is only about the same size.
Doesn’t take much to be satisfied.
Quality eating is determined more by smaller amounts of foods you actually like.
That’s where I went to HS. Class of 19xx (I’m shy about my age.)
I never ate at school, as my folks lived a block away, so I can’t comment on food quality. Plus, things change over the years.
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