By Lily Bourne
With a chance to travel anywhere imaginable, to find the answer to any curiosity of mine, and to experience any wonder of the world, I have come to only one conclusion. Westmont’s finest journalists must investigate the most pressing question on the minds of today’s individuals. Where do the school lunches come from?
As our trusty school bus transforms into an inconspicuous CUHSD shipping truck, we are prevented from gathering any information on the direction and distance we are traveling. Blinded from all outside sensation–for our own good–we must simply wait until we reach our faithful destination. Always impatient, Anjali Nayak dares to question the mysterious shadowy figure in the driver’s seat, “Are we there yet?” A slightly Scottish-accented voice answers back, “You will know.”
Finally, the bus comes to a halt and we find ourselves in a giant warehouse. Curious noises come from behind various doors around the perimeter, and a myriad of unique scents waft through the air. Our transporter quietly slips away into one of the many connected rooms and disappears, possibly off to participate in some freelance hypnotherapy.
Madeline Crowley and I begin our search. We open the first door in hopes of finding the answer to our nagging question: where do Mini Cinnies come from? However, inside we are greeted with a worrying sight. Large metal tubes pour streams of nondescript brown mush into large pots. The tubes seem to be coming from all over the warehouse, bringing in a mixture of who-knows-what. A separate machine mixes in some trusty cinnamon and sugar and passes the mixture onto a conveyor belt for molding and baking. We watch in a mixture of awe and horror as our go-to Cinnamon Fiber Bars are created in front of our eyes.
In a separate room, Sinchana Holla and Amanda Schwarz continue the quest for Mini Cinnies. Instead, they find the head Cafeteria Food Creator’s office. Inside, cookbooks line the walls of the room, spilling onto the furniture and floor. Journals lay open with furious scribbles and half-finished recipes scrawled across the pages. As they approach the main desk, the two intrepid investigators find something intriguing: the plans for one of Westmont’s newest recipes. A meticulous drawing depicts the world-famous California roll. On the other side of the desk, a bag of Hot Cheetos sits open, the chips quite stale. Sinchana notices red streaks on the drawing, a classic symptom of Cheeto-dust fingers. Amanda questions, “Was this design accidentally sent to the food producers with the Cheeto dust included?” Sinchana only shakes her head in disappointment.
As the sun begins to fall below the horizon, Andy Evans calls all of the lovely writers back into the main room. Even with all of our intriguing discoveries, nobody seemed to have found the Mini Cinnie creation room. Perhaps this is a secret that will never be unraveled, or perhaps we might just have to come back another day!