As Buster Moon from the Sing duology once said, “when you’ve hit rock bottom, there’s only one way to go, and that’s up.” It is my belief that food has been improving at an exponential rate-–yet, our student body’s opinions tell a different story. As a student who has been at Princeton Day School since sixth grade, I have personally witnessed Chef Brian Mochnal transform our lunch program. So, why do the complaints keep getting louder?

Chef Brian told me that our salad bar is “all fresh on one side,” with six to seven freshly made composed salads daily. “Our dressings are all made from scratch,” he said, as are our soups. Our yogurt comes from a local dairy, and our fruits come from local organic orchards. Most public schools don’t have a fraction of this. But do students appreciate it? “I think some don’t,” Chef Brian admitted, “because they might be looking for more unhealthy food.”

Teachers, who overhear student opinions daily, agree. Ms. Gwen Shockey has heard students claim “there’s no protein option” when nuts, seeds, legumes, and meats are readily available every single day. She notices that many students load up on beige-colored foods and skip the vegetables entirely.

Yet, when asked for real evidence, student critics come up empty. Junior Jaysna Tuladhar rated FLIK a five out of ten (ten being the worst). When asked for three inedible meals this semester, she could barely name two. She admitted that, compared to her old school, FLIK is “definitely always better and there’s a lot more variety,” concluding that complaining is “just a social tradition.”

Yes, FLIK is not perfect. However, calling a program with homemade dressings, local produce, and daily scratch-made soup “disgusting” isn’t criticism—it is dramatization. We have not hit rock bottom. Rather, we have just forgotten to look at what is actually on our plates.