In today’s world, we have begun to have more and more people with dietary needs. As a private Catholic school, O’Dowd has the resources to stay up to speed on current issues like inclusive nutrition. At O’Dowd, we have already made a vegetarian option on our menus, so why don’t we take another step forward and continue improving the menu’s inclusivity? There are benefits to having clearly defined nutritional options because when students have lunch options with valuable nutrition, it can give them more energy throughout the day and improve focus, helping them to power through a busy afternoon. 

The most important part about a meal is the nutrition it will give and the energy it will bring you for the rest of the afternoon until you get home. Austin Loud ’27, a student with dietary restrictions that limit his O’Dowd lunch options explains his allergies, “Peanuts, strawberries, pollen, shellfish, tree nuts, latex, mustard” and the list goes on. Austin continues to explain how he educates himself on the content of O’Dowd meals, “I check the label or on menus, they tell you what’s inside it but if they don’t have then I just don’t eat it.” Expanding on how this affects him, Austin comments, “its understandable I know that they have other things to worry about when they don’t have it but I think it could help a lot of people if they did have the ingredients down.” Austin explains his limited options at the O’Dowd cafeteria, “ I other try the things I know I can have like the Gatorade or some chips but my stomach reacts to things differently at different times”. He explains why he can’t eat the lunches, “I don’t know what’s in it and since I have a lot of allergies I don’t even try it”. Austin Loud is starting his sophomore year at O’Dowd while playing basketball and running track and he loves both activities, but what if he doesn’t bring lunch from home for any reason, he can’t survive practice with just chips and a Gatorade. He needs food that can carry him through the day.