Tiny taste testers sample food for school meals. What will cut the mustard?
Tiny taste testers sample food for school meals. What will cut the mustard?
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Helping your child navigate school lunch options
With families settling into their back-to-school routines, it's a good time to remind parents that one in five children in the U.S. have obesity, according to the CDC.
Scripps News
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pennsylvania − Landon Cierniak was a little shy talking about what he liked at the Fuel Up Food Expo, but his classmate Declan Donnelly didn't hold back.
"I could eat pounds of this!" Donnelly said, holding up a sample size portion of macaroni and cheese from one of the half-dozen vendors at the expo, where students from Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey got to try different options for school meals, tell their teachers and the host American Dairy Association North East what they liked (and disliked), and help shape what students in the region may see on cafeteria trays.
Cierniak and Donnelly, both fourth graders at Edgewood Elementary School in Yardley, Pennsylvania, were among about 175 elementary-, middle- and high school students who got to enjoy a day away from classes. A DJ played dance music; the students got T-shirts, bags, stickers and other swag. And a celebrity guest − Philadelphia Eagles mascot Swoop − hyped the kids and posed for selfies before the taste testing began.
Cierniak liked the mac and cheese, too, but he also tried some chicken tinga and pulled pork, nodding and smiling broadly when asked whether he liked the pork.
The American Dairy Association North East, which represents about 9,000 dairy farmers across the region, will tally the results of the kids' survey answers, written in markers on checklists with three emojis for each food item: a thinking emoji for foods they don't like or aren't sure about, a regular smile for foods they like and a beaming smile emoji for the things they love.
School meals keep kids 'prepared and focused'
Kaitlyn Wilson, a paraprofessional at Upper Merion (Pennsylvania) Middle School, said it is important for children to have a good breakfast and a nutritious lunch.
"It helps them be prepared and focused," said Wilson as she helped guide 20 students from station to station, where they could sample empanadas, plantains, rice dishes, pizza, muffins, cereals, breakfast sandwiches, overnight oats, bruschetta and noodles (and yes, mac and cheese).
Wilson noted that all the students at her school receive free breakfast. The morning break, about 20 minutes before the school day officially begins, offers kids "a few minutes to unwind and settle in" before classes.
That's helpful for the kids, and for the educators who teach them, Wilson said.
Stephane Wynter, a 16-year-old junior at Brooklyn South High School, and her classmate and friend Grismary Lopez, wearing "Love Not Hate" hoodies, said they like to see the multiculturalism of their school reflected in its lunch offerings.
"We like the diversity in the menu," said Wynter, as Lopez pronounced the pulled pork "fantastic, and I'm not even a pork fan."
Federal funding cuts could impact already-strapped districts
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently proposed cuts of more than $1 billion in funding that helps schools and food banks purchase food from local farmers, part of a wider push to cut overall federal spending. The School Nutrition Association said in a March 10 news release the USDA cut funding for the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program for 2025.
'These proposals would cause millions of children to lose access to free school meals at a time when working families are struggling with rising food costs," the organization's president, Shannon Gleave, said in the release.
Katty Peña, director of student culture at West Philadelphia High School, said the students there are already feeling the pinch. And Peña, who runs an afterschool culinary arts club, hopes some of the offerings at the Fuel Up Expo can find their way to her school's cafeteria.
For some students at West Philadelphia High, the breakfasts and lunches (and, if they're in the culinary program, the dinners) they receive at school might be the only regular meals they can depend on, she said. And if kids don't like what they're offered, "they'll just grab the food, look at it and throw it in the trash," so giving them food that's both nutritious and delicious goes a long way.
"As a teacher, I don't know their home situations," she said. But many students tell her about how their families have to opt for cheaper, highly processed foods over healthier, fresher but more expensive foods. Having healthier options in school at least means they get some nutrients and learn about how to eat better to avoid chronic health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure as they move into adulthood.
What's a field trip without ice cream?
Kristina Moher, the dairy association's senior director for youth engagement, caught her breath after a hectic day getting the opinions of dozens of school kids while those kids finished their day with a frosty treat: ice cream.
The group hosts Fuel Up events to solicit youths' thoughts, and then they make recommendations to school nutrition directors within individual districts.
"The educators love it, and so do the kids," she said. "It's all about showing them people care about their opinions."
Those opinions were shared pretty freely, including by 10-year-old Mayumi Bilal, who goes to Upper Merion Area (Pennsylvania) Middle School. Her favorites? Woodles, whole grain ramen noodles served with chicken, and macaroni and cheese − the latter so good, "the cheese melts in your mouth!"
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