Throughout my high school career, before any break, at least one of my classes has a food party. Each student promises to bring in a dish or snack to share with the entire class. It seems like a fun concept, but the appeal is missing for some.

From personal experience, most food parties consist entirely of junk food and dessert. Even if you’re not the most health-conscious person, it’s hard to deny how disgusting you feel after eating an entire plate of cookies, cupcakes, and candy. While it’s possible to just moderate how much you eat, it’s pretty hard to deny yourself delicious food, so you usually end up feeling pretty sick.

On top of that, food parties are pretty costly if you have more than one to attend. This may make me seem like a holiday Grinch, but for the same amount of money some students spend on food to share with classmates, you could just buy all your favorite foods and eat them yourself.

Now, you might be wondering why some students couldn’t just opt out of participating in them. However, the worst part about food parties is that they’re often mandatory. I’ve had plenty of teachers tell my class that everyone had to bring something, or we couldn’t have one at all. Why would somebody want to be that one person who ruins a food party for the whole group and be the person that a hungry group of teenagers turns against?!

For a lot of students, food parties seem like the best way to end the week before break, but with the unhealthy eating options, cost, and forced participation, food parties aren’t are all they’re cracked up to be.