Food and Culture at RPS

From being on the Rutgers Prep campus for a week and studying the students’ eating habits, I have come to the conclusion that the diet for these adolescents is mostly unhealthy. It is not completely their fault though, since they can only eat what the cafeteria serves them. Every day there is a kind of pasta drowned in oil, and when there isn’t pasta there are tacos, burritos, and burgers. If the students don’t want pasta, they usually make a sandwich or a salad drenched in dressing, and the seniors go out to eat some fried, processed foods at McDonalds or Taco Bell. There is always a dessert served, usually chocolate chip cookies or ice cream. When they aren’t in the cafeteria, the only other option is to go to the vending machine and eat chips or chocolate.

As I walked onto the RPS campus, the first thing that I noticed was that although the school was an area for learning, the most important thing to the students seemed to be food. No matter how different the students were and which social group they belonged to, their shared love for food gives each one something in common. Whether they are anxiously waiting until morning meeting is over so they can walk to the vending machine, complaining about how hungry they are during their long band class, or criticizing how bad the school lunch is that day, there is nothing else that could bring the students closer together.