A meal in the LCHS cafeteria consists of meat or main entree, a few sides, and milk. It costs $1.75 to purchase these things, which in the scheme of life, isn’t that much money. It adds up to a total of $8.75 a week if you buy lunch every day. In comparison to a single meal from McDonald’s, this isn’t bad at all.

However, if you want water instead of milk it costs an extra dollar. It doesn’t sound bad in perspective, but that’s an extra five dollars a week if you buy one every day.

For most people, this probably wouldn’t seem like much of an issue.

However, for those of us who are lactose intolerant, this is a bit of a problem.

This is five dollars a week I could use on something much more useful. When you consider it over the whole school year, it adds up fast!

In a single school year, a student who is lactose intolerant may spend an extra $150 to $200 just to have something to drink every day.

This is money I could be saving for college, donating to people in need, or using towards a mission trip or other important event.

Last year, we had the option to buy a cup of water for 20 cents, which was much more affordable and worked just as well as buying a bottle of water.

This year, though, all that is provided are bottles of water or an ice machine but no cups or water.

I believe the school should take into consideration the needs of all types of students in this case, not just the majority. For me in particular, my body physically cannot handle the digestion of lactose. It makes me sick.
This is a health issue and should be handled as such. For people with allergies, they cut peanuts out of the entire school and make exceptions for specific issues, so why isn’t lactose intolerance one of those?