The Hewitt Times

My stomach begins to grumble at around 10:30am, so I sit in my class tapping my pen against the table as my right leg jumps rapidly. By the time the clock strikes 12:57, I pack up all my belongings and sprint out the door. I run down the stairs, the rest of my class trailing close behind me.

Yes! First in line!

“Can I have some beef with broccoli please?” I ask Ish. He collects a single scoop of Teryaki goodness with the serving spoon and plops it onto my plate. I wait for him to add another scoop or two, but instead he hands me the plate and asks, “Next?”

I stand by the hot bar examining my portion size, as the faculty member behind me on line receives four scoops of beef and two of lo mein. I make my way to the table in the back of Le Bistro, the one near the microwave, the one my friends and I call “The Woman Cave.” I drop my plate onto the table and snap this photo.

The stingy portion sizes have started to really bug me recently. I began to type this article upon excitedly asking for pita bread, only to receive this one triangle slapped onto my plate.

“You literally get up to get food, and they give you one grilled cheese when they know you’re going to go back up to the hot bar six more times. So they’re just going to be washing more plates when it’s not necessary,” says Lizzie Makkos ’15.

“Are the portion sizes a decision based on a person’s physical appearance? I’ve noticed that certain people get more food than others,” says Maria Sabater ’13 (5’2″).

I also have noticed that certain items are depleted halfway through our lunch period or that they are unavailable even before our 1 pm arrival, snatched up by younger girls with earlier lunch periods. If the pretzel bread is still in the bread bowl, it’s a good day.

They even run out of taco shells on taco day… There’s definitely something wrong with that.

The problem may be that it is hard to gauge how much the entire student body and faculty are going to eat. This makes it difficult for the kitchen staff to provide what they know will be enough food…without wasting any. But then why are the teachers being showered with large portions when the food should be savored until the last lunch period of the day?

Chef James, the man in charge, explained that the reason for our small portion sizes is due to the fact that we try to get everyone through the line as quickly as possible and to minimize the amount of waste.

Because the kitchen is too small to hold the amount of food necessary to perfectly satisfy everyone’s hunger, the kitchen staff holds onto certain items and distributes them scarcely so that everybody gets a little bit; it’s like a tease. Perhaps the real answer is to invest in a bigger fridge.

 

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 11, 2013

This article, initially published February 5th, misquoted Chef James’s explanation as to our cafeteria’s portion sizes. Appropriate changes have been made to accurately reflect his point-of-view. We, as a Hewitt community, greatly appreciate all the work (and food!) that Chef James and the kitchen staff do.