When you crave the real thing, substitutes are simply not acceptable.  

Many students and teachers are fans of JIF peanut butter, but with the JIF costing more than House Recipe, the beloved JIF has disappeared from the salad bar while House Recipe remains.   

Students like sophomore Karee Cooley feel strongly about this matter and have many things to say about the change. 

“It’s very upsetting because when I’m still hungry, I get some peanut butter,” Cooley said. “Now I can’t do that because the new peanut butter is actually terrible”

With this change comes lunch trays devoid of peanut butter since most do not enjoy this shift. 

“I feel sad, and kind of disappointed in the school that the peanut butter got changed,” sophomore Paige Sanders said. “I don’t get the peanut butter with lunch anymore, due to this new change.”

Not only did students notice this transformation, but Powell High School teachers did as well. 

“I quickly noticed the peanut butter changed when I opened the ‘new’ and saw that stirring would be required to enjoy the smooth deliciousness that peanut butter holds,” PHS science teacher Mrs. Kaitlin Loeffen said. “With the added hassle–joking–I miss the old that was ready to go.”

“[JIF] is actually the good brand,” said Cooley. “And not low quality and watery when you open it and taste like water.”

Students claim they can sense the price drop by the diminished quality of the peanut butter. And they are right; JIF costs 66 cents per packet and House Recipe costs 25 cents per packet.

“I like the old brand more,” Sanders said. “The new one seems cheaper and doesn’t taste as good.”

Mrs. Loeffen agrees that the old is better, despite the health benefits that some might believe come with oily peanut butter. 

“I loved the old,” Mrs. Loeffen said. “It happened to be the same brand I use at home, so I am biased. I tend to stay away from more oily peanut butter, regardless of the health factor.”

When Cooley was asked how she felt about the peanut butter and why it was changed, she explained that there are many things that the lunchroom could cut back on. 

“There are some stuff they are probably buying they could get rid of; there is some stuff they buy that I know nobody eats,” Cooley said. “But peanut butter is something like a lot of people eat, so they should probably remove some funding from the things people don’t eat to the things people do eat.”

Most are unhappy with this change and, overall, like the old peanut butter more.

“I want to applaud the lunch service for providing great, healthy fruits and vegetables and their condiment selection is truly fantastic, ” Mrs. Loeffen said. “But I miss my peanut butter.”