Since last year, UHS students have received free meals from the cafeteria due to the Universal Meals Program in California. A variety of meals have been available to students for breakfast before school, snacks at break and full meals during lunch. Opinions amongst students over free meals have become highly contentious, and students are taking to social media to express their thoughts. 

Recently, the new @uhs_food_tierlist account on Instagram has become a major hit amongst students. The account, run by an anonymous student, is known for its opinionated reviews on school cafeteria items. A typical evaluation will consist of a tier list, rarity and a description that accurately captures the item. 

The review ranks using the common S, A, B, C, D and F system. “S” is reserved for only the best-tasting meals, while food ranked “F” denotes items that the Instagram user has deemed unsatisfactory. The food account has already amassed over 400 followers on Instagram. 

According to the user, their motivation to create the account came from the unorganized meals at the cafeteria. The user wants to make sure their reviews are objective while encouraging other students to provide their input. 

“I realized how odd it was that schools don’t have an easily accessible menu available for students,” the user said. 

While the user has tried all of the available food items offered by the cafeteria, the account holder wishes to continue reviewing items and creating guides to help students satisfy their tastes. Additionally, the user hopes to attend more special food-related UHS events such as Club Kickoff. 

“My favorite review was the Club Kickoff event, simply because of the amazing effort and especially foods that the clubs have brought,” the user said. 

The account has garnered massive support for more options in the cafeteria, along with better labels. 

“My only recommendation is that each food item is labeled with the type of meat, dairy content and nuts for students with restricted diets,” the user said. “I would also suggest a label with the number of calories, and the macronutrients of the food item, for ease of nutrition tracking.”

While the user believes there is some progress to be made in how food is labeled and distributed within the cafeteria, they praised the cafeteria staff for their hard work and dedication to making food enjoyable for UHS students. 

“I genuinely praise our school’s wide variety of options for food,” the user said. “The fact that each student, with their own unique tastes and preferences, gets to choose from a vast array of choices every day at the cafeteria is truly remarkable.”