$2.50 is a hefty fee for some fries. 

The lunch room prices at Mount Carmel are not realistic and are very costly. They could need some altering.

A small tray filled with a little amount of fries is $2.50. “I think they could be lowered,” said senior Patrick Hatzis about the prices. “I think $2.50 is a lot for fries that don’t even fill you up sometimes, and $3.25 for three chicken tenders is pretty much. Sometimes when I Buy chicken tenders I regret spending that three dollars because they aren’t even cooked sometimes.”  

Hatzis also notes the inconsistency in the food in the Commons. “Some days they taste great, and other days they taste very different. I think if I’m paying that much I should be getting a better lunch.” 

The drinks in the lunchroom are probably the most overpriced. If they were lowered they would have more sales. A bottle of Arizona is 99 cents at the nearest corner store, but in the lunchroom it’s $3. That’s two dollars more than the corner store price. Gatorades are $2.50 but at a regular store they range from $1.50 to $2.00. Them being priced that way causes the students to bring their own drink and not buy from the lunchroom. This could easily be fixed by making the prices reasonable. The fridge at the end of lunch is filled with drinks because the students believe that they are being overcharged.

“I buy a drink almost everyday and I think they can be quite pricey,” said senior Marco Valencia. “I think I might just stop by the corner store every morning and buy drinks from there. For 99 cents that’s a steal. I could easily save money and buy other things outside of school.” 

Chips cost $1.25, which is way more expensive than any other store. “I am paying $1.25 for chips, but inside the bag it’s mostly filled up with air and not a lot of chips,” said senior Calo Perez. “I’d say that can be a ripoff. In the vending machine right next to the lunch room I could get a bag of chips for a single dollar and those bags are bigger.” Some students said that the only things reasonably-priced in the lunchroom are the specials. 

“The specials takes a lot of time to make compared to fries, chicken tenders, and pizza puffs, which take a couple of minutes,” said Perez. “The women who work for the lunch service put more effort into making the specials than anything else, so I get why they are the most expensive thing in the lunchroom. The price of $3.50 is unreasonable for three chicken tenders. I think that’s a bit high.”

The food service Mount Carmel uses sets its own prices in order to make a profit. “The items are multiplied by a price to see how much money can be made off of the item,” said Mrs. Paula, who works for the food service. “That’s why the prices are set to what they are now.”

The prices have some reasons as to why they are so high. Students can find alternatives such as bringing their own lunch or even buy less food during lunch and manage the money you have on your mealtime account. 

There can be ways where the lunches can be more sought out by the students. There can be weekly raffles leading to the lunch room with different prices. They can make deals like a 2 for 5 and so on. The lunch prices could be altered to a decent deal and could be more reasonable. There can be many ways to make lunch more desirable. Students love buying lunch but some of them think it’s too expensive.