At Argo Community High school, students are always walking the halls, constantly asking their friends for food, even after their lunch period.

“It’s too little. They don’t put enough food, and we like to eat,” said Kassam Saleh who is a sophomore at Argo. He gave a lot of his own opinions about how much food he gets on his lunch tray.

Kassam and a few of his other friends have fifth period lunch. They all say that its different from other lunches. By the time that they get to the lunchroom, they always get told they don’t have any more cheese pizza or anymore of the daily special. When the students of Argo leave the lunchroom, they’re still hungry.

Ever since covid, school lunches around the US has had a shortage. According to an article created by Mike Buzalka, last fall a survey was taken and 98% of schools all over the nation have been struggling with their meal programs. 97% of schools have been struggling with product shortages and 95% with staff shortages.

Maricela Camargo, the line two cashier at Argo Community High school says that she feels like they are still going through a shortage. “Yes, and were understaffed. There has been a shortage on food and a shortage on staff. I would help in the line, but we can’t because were missing people.”

Students who have to pay for a lunch say that their portions aren’t worth paying for.

“I pay $3.50 for a lunch, and I don’t think the amount they put on the plate is worth paying 3.50 for,” said Terryon Taylor, an Argo sophomore and Junior Varsity football player said. “I feel like they should give us two slices of pizza, we big kids and I’m always hungry,” said Eloni Lewis, an Argo sophomore and Junior Varsity Girls basketball player.

So why can’t the lunch ladies give the students more food on the plate? Is it because of the shortage of food? Is it because they’re letting students pay for another lunch? Well, if it was up to “School Lunches by the students of Harvard Health Publishing,” students should typically get one serving of fruit and veggies, two servings of grains, one serving from the meat group and one serving from the dairy group.

“We go by the state of Illinois regulations, we wish we can put more food. We know that you guys are big kids, but we have to go by the rules and regulations of the state of Illinois. So, if they say use scoop number two for corn, we have to use the number two scoop for corn. We cannot over do it,” said Camargo.