Pool-goers weigh in on healthy options

Rainy weather has put no damper on attendance at the Westfield Memorial Pool and especially not at the snack bar, which is featuring new healthy menu options.

The Recreation Commission has contracted snack bar operations this summer to Sergio Francisco of SA Food Associates. In addition to regular items such as hamburgers and hot dogs, Francisco intends to provide healthy menu choices.

 The new menu, as posted at the snack bar, includes fresh salads with grilled chicken or tuna fish, a grilled chicken sandwich, a crab cake sandwich, turkey and veggie burgers, four Panini selections including grilled chicken with mozzarella and roasted peppers, turkey with Swiss, tuna melt, and ham with cheese. Strawberry-banana and peanut-butter-banana smoothies, fresh fruit and yogurt are also available.

"It's nice to have a good option to choose to eat at the pool," said Abby Kwok.

According to a snack stand employee, who declined to provide his/her name, the strawberry-banana smoothies are the most popular healthy option item ordered. Panini are also very popular.

But salads have not been a hit. The tide against the healthy salad choices and for the traditional chicken fingers and burgers continues with pool-goers, particularly teens.

"Why would you get a salad at the pool?" asked Emily Polak.

Matthew Warnow, who recently completed the seventh grade, says he does not intend on chowing down on salads in between diving into the pool and using the water slides this summer. 

“The junk food is more fun to eat. I would rather have junk food than have something healthy," Warnow said. "At the pool, it’s something fun to do. You don’t have to eat healthy like you do when you’re at home.”

 Still, the healthy options are attracting more fans than Kwok, in particular the smoothies. 

“Smoothies are a really great option, especially when it is really hot out,” said Westfield Memorial Pool lifeguard Elaine Anderson.

However, one mother, who declined to provide her name, voiced her concern over the price of the drinks, which run $5 each. She said the smoothie would be a good option, but she steers away from them as a choice for her children because of the price. She proposed the snack bar instead have smaller smoothies at cheaper prices in order to accommodate the families who are at the pool on a daily basis.