Universal Lunch (UL) has been a substantial adjustment to many this past school year. It’s clear that UL has its pros and cons, but one aspect that has been brushed aside is its impact on the cafeteria staff, who make UL possible and who make important contributions in countless other ways. As the year comes to an end, we spoke with high school lunch manager, Jamie Zervos, to get her take on UL and how it’s affected the staff this year.
Mia Cho ’26: Tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you’ve worked at IHS.
Jamie Zervos: I’m the high school lunch manager. I have been with ICSD for fourteen years.
Valery Alvaro ’26: What are your thoughts on how UL has been this year?
JZ: My thoughts are that from our perspective, it’s been successful with the change. It has been a struggle getting enough kids to eat compared to other years. We are trying to facilitate extra lines for the kids to come and eat but I also know that the crowds are hard.
VA: Would you support or oppose having UL in the future?
JZ: I guess I’m in agreement. I guess what hasn’t been thought out from the other side is testing and field trips, and how that impacts lunches.
MC: What can be improved regarding UL, or anything else relating to the cafeteria environment?
JZ: A little more support in the lunch lines. I have a lot of students cutting the line and when a person finally gets [to the front], the food is already gone or sold out. Or having students realize that standing in line with a friend [who is not buying lunch] makes [the line] longer and backpacks make the line longer. Coming in with the backpacks makes the lines longer because it’s like a person and a half in line, instead of finding a seat and knowing that that’s your space I guess.
MC: Has UL changed your experience at IHS, and if so, how?
JZ: It has changed my experience. We are now cooking all of our food at one time to push out the lunches. We strategically think about what we can serve because you can’t put more than two to three items on a plate as it slows the line down. Taco days where the students have to do the lettuce, the tomatoes, the onions, the salsa, the sour cream, the cheese; or the burger day, the same idea with pickles, really slows everything down so we try to make sure that the other line is just as popular with something they want so they will equal out.
VA: Would you recommend having UL at other districts or schools?
JZ: I don’t think it benefits the kitchen people, but I do believe it probably benefits the academic portion. For us, with more time and cooking for each line, I feel better about the food. It feels fresher, it feels like I care about that [lunch] line. It’s a big heavy push to get everything prepared and cooked, and then all of a sudden it’s like, “bam! Twelve minutes and it’s all over, clean up and we’re done!” so it does go fast. I’d rather spend more time making things per line.
If UL is continued, then the opinions of the cafeteria staff should be in this discussion as well. As a student body, remember to be considerate towards the staff for everything they do in our school. To all of the staff that work in our cafeteria, we thank you on our schools’ behalf for doing your jobs to keep our cafeteria a nourishing and well-kept area.