Have you ever wondered what the most popular school lunch is at IHA? Many would assume it is an everyday option such as pizza, a wrap, or a Margherita flatbread. However, after a survey of 230 IHA students from all grade levels was conducted, only 13.04% of the population said their all-time favorite IHA meal was something on the everyday lunch menu. That means 86.96% had a favorite meal that was an entrée. At IHA, each entrée is served only about once every month. That means an overwhelming majority of students will get to eat their favorite delectable dishes once every month, and less than ten times a school year.

The breakdown of favorite IHA lunches. Graph created with meta-chart.com. 

Within this survey, students were also asked to name their specific favorite lunches. This could have been anything from a simple kale salad to linguini with butter and garlic knots. The students’ answers were separated into seven categories: pizza/Margherita flatbread, cultural food (egg rolls, enchiladas, eggplant parmesan, etc.), chicken dishes (chicken pesto, chicken tenders, buffalo chicken sandwich, etc.), burgers and fries, quesadillas, grilled cheese, and other. Only 7.31% of the students surveyed chose pizza/Margherita flatbreads. 8.70% answered cultural food, and 10.00% responded burger and fries. 13.49% said that quesadillas were their favorite and 20.43% favored grilled cheese. At the largest percent, chicken dishes had 28.26% and won the vote. The remaining 11.81% was placed in the “other” category.

The breakdown of favorite IHA entrées. Graph created with meta-chart.com. 

The final question to this survey asked students what their favorite entrée was. This was broken up into seven categories: pastas (baked ziti, linguini, mac and cheese, etc.), cultural foods(egg rolls, enchiladas, eggplant parmesan, etc.) , chicken specials (buffalo chicken sandwich, balsamic chicken, tenders, etc.), burger and fries, quesadillas, grilled cheese, and other. The pasta category had the lowest percent with 7.82% of the vote. Similarly, cultural foods had 9.13%, and quesadillas had 10.44%. The percent of students who enjoyed burgers and fries almost doubled to 17.39%. However, the chicken entrée category decreased to 19.57%. The largest percent of the votes went to the grilled cheese with 25.65% in favor. The remaining 10.00% was also placed into the “other” category.

In summary, IHA students generally enjoy dishes such as buffalo chicken sandwiches, burgers, grilled cheese, and quesadillas. Oddly enough, not one student answered that their favorite entrée was the crispy salmon, which most likely is the most expensive meal for the cafeteria staff to make.

By: Julia Marotti’21, World and Local News Editor