Lincoln’s cafeteria team works hard every morning and afternoon, preparing breakfast and lunch for over a thousand students. Led by Trinity Dutton, the permanent cafeteria staff at Lincoln consists of Lucien Perry, Caralee Beasley, Nathaniel Lufian and Melisa Kirbach.
The team comes from diverse walks of life. Kirbach was a stay-at-home mother for 17 years, then got this job so she could still spend summers and breaks with her children. Similarly, Beasley joined the team because she wanted a job where she could spend school breaks with her grandson. Perry started as a rover, a temporary worker who fills in for absences in different schools. Now he is a permanent employee.
Of all the benefits of the job, the staff unanimously agreed that talking to Lincoln students and serving the community are the best parts.
“[It’s] my favorite place because I can talk to all the kids,” said Beasley.
“It’s fun to make small connections with people, because I see them repeatedly a lot of the time,” said Kirbach.
The favorite part of the job may be interacting with students, but the job also involves a significant amount of manual labor. Regular duties include preparing over seven pans of rice, seasoning beans and chicken, portioning food and baking pizzas. Though there is a dishwashing machine, the plates must also be scrubbed by hand first.
“It really should be called a dish-rinsing and sanitizing machine,” said Lufian.
Dutton organizes and plans the meals each day.
The cafeteria staff wants students to know that the food isn’t unhealthy like stereotypes portray it to be. Many options offered at Lincoln come from local farms in Oregon and Washington. There are also strict national guidelines for the nutritional content of school food. At least 80% of grains served in school lunches every week are required to be whole-grain-rich.
“Whole wheat [pizza] crust is kind of rare,” said Lufian. “Actually, the company that provides our crust, Roadrunner, they sell the same stuff at New Seasons, and it’s actually pretty expensive.”
Many cafeteria workers say they wouldn’t change much about the job, but they want more benefits for students.
“All of us would love to serve the kids as many lunches as they wanted, but we can’t. It’s not us that makes the rules,” said Kirbach.
Students are only allowed to get one lunch per day.
“I wish the kids had a longer lunch,” says Perry.
The next time you see a cafeteria worker, make sure to thank them for their great work!
