By: Julia Xia, Staff Writer
On October 5th, Mills High School hosted its annual food fair to assist student clubs in earning money for their activities or needs. As Homecoming took place on Saturday 8th, Ms. Dove, Mills’ leadership teacher, thought it would be a good idea to host a food fair in order to raise the student spirit and promote student-led clubs. With the money earned from the fair, clubs would be able to buy supplies or go on trips that would make them more fun. However, one of the most noticeable aspects of the food fair this year were the surprisingly high price points.
From milk tea to hamburgers to even some desserts, an array of food was spread out in Center Court. Tickets cost one dollar each and many of the dishes being sold cost around three to four. During and after the event, students began to complain about the prices because many of them believed that most of the food being sold wasn’t worth the amount of money they had to pay.
The beverages were only one part of the outrageous prices at the fair. One of the drinks, the Shirley Temples, were being sold for four tickets. Many students believed that spending that much on a drink was outrageous and that the drink itself did not need to be that expensive. “It’s just cherry sauce mixed with sprite. It shouldn’t be that much”, stated a sophomore who wished to remain anonymous. Another Junior at the fair noticed that a shawarma dish was being sold for seven tickets. While she understands the need for money, she also believes that clubs need to start pricing their items more reasonably. “I mean, I get why they do it but still it’s unreasonable to think seven tickets is a reasonable price for a little bit of food” , they stated. Out of the students interviewed for this article, many reached a general consensus that in future food fairs, clubs should sell most items for a maximum of three tickets, instead of going overboard with the prices.
While some of the students’ anger is justifiable, I believe that they should remember that the point of hosting our food fair is to raise money for student-run clubs, making it understandable to see such high price points.. “I admit we may have priced it a bit too high, but we just wanted some money in case we ever wanted to do something fun.” a club president who’d like to remain anonymous, explained. When it comes to more hands-on clubs like the robotics club it makes sense why they would price the food a bit more expensively, but it doesn’t explain many of the unreasonable prices.
Ms. Dove explained that each club was in charge of pricing their food. The clubs would be sent a google form and decide what food they’d like to sell and how much they will charge for it. “We had the food fair to help raise money for the clubs but also get more students to join them.” she added. After the fair, the clubs would count their tickets and receive all the money they earned, through a deposit into their club’s account with the school. Although the food fair lends to a good cause, I believe that in the future, clubs should be more conscious of whether or not students will actually buy their food if they price it so high. It would also be a good idea to have Ms. Dove and other teachers watch over the clubs a bit more so they don’t end up overpricing their food.
Knowing all of this and listening to the perspectives of other students, I will admit that I still believe that Leadership could have come up with a better solution that would make the food more affordable while still giving the clubs money. In my opinion and from what I saw at the fair, not all clubs had food selling at outrageous prices. Some were actually priced fairly reasonably. When we do invenitably have another food fair in the future, I would advise that student-run clubs aiming to earn money through the fair try to keep the students and their customers in mind and consider if their high price points are absolutely necessary.
