Region 5 Food Show allows students to make choices
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Courtesy photo STUDENTS TAKE A BREAK following the Region V Food Show.

Any parent who has shopped and cooked nutritious food for their child will understand the dilemma that schools face in trying to get kids to eat healthier.

Kim Malone, director of child nutrition for Jasper Independent School District (JISD), said kids are more likely to eat well when they have choices.

"We offer five components at lunch - meat, bread, fruit, vegetables and milk. They can choose all five, but they only have to take three. That cuts down on tray waste. They are more likely to eat it if they choose it," Malone said.

To find out what foods kids would like to choose, JISD took a group of students to the Region 5 Co-operative Food Show last month in the Beaumont Civic Center. Malone said they had short notice, so the 41 students from all five JISD campuses were selected quickly.

"Frankly, we picked kids we knew would behave and take it seriously. We were really proud of the way our students conducted themselves," Malone said.

Students faced a civic center loaded with every kind of food that can be served at a school. They ate their way through samples from 67 companies vying for a piece of the $10 million co-op food budget.

Each student was asked to fill out an evaluation sheet for specific items, and then allowed to sample anything else they wanted to try.

The ballot sheet had a simple three-choice scale: "Yum, okay, or yuck." Older children helped the smallest voters, pre-K and elementary students, with their tally sheets.

Typical items the students evaluated included breakfast items like a maple pancake wrap, cheese omelet or wholegrain muffin; lunch items like sweet and sour chicken, breaded beef fingers or chili cheese burritos; snack items like ketchup baked fries, cheesy O's or reduced fat cookies.

"They took the job very seriously," Malone said. They were tasting foods currently available as well as evaluating foods that may be on the menu next year.

The co-op tracked the evaluations by school district and sent summaries to directors like Malone who decide what items to add to their school district's menus.

All foods were prescreened by the co-op to be sure they meet the new child nutrition guidelines. Carbonated soft drinks and candy bars were eliminated from school campuses several years ago, but the new Texas rules are even stricter, according to Malone.

"The new guidelines put constraints on fats, emphasis on whole grain products, less sugar. Yet we still have to find new products that kids will want to eat," Malone said.

"We serve more fresh fruits and vegetables, but it takes 12 introductions of a new food before a child wants to try it. For example, raw carrots and ranch dip are a hard sell, but we keep putting it out there. They have the option of not picking it up, but when they find they like it...."

Malone said the good news is that "manufacturers are falling in line with school requirements and catching up with the new regulations." The trick is to put the nutrition in a package that kids will choose.

A popular new snack item was Clodhoppers. Malone said they meet a bread requirement and consist of vanilla graham clusters. Kids really don't care that the package has 165 calories that are low in fat and sugar and provide protein and fiber. It tastes good, is fun to eat, and comes in slick packaging, according to Malone, who added, "Kids love pre-packaged foods."

However, JISD does prepare many meals from scratch. Malone says they make meals like gumbo, chicken spagetti, and baked chicken from their central kitchen. Individual school campuses can prepare some meals also.

JISD has belonged to the co-op a relatively short time. The co-op now consists of 37 area schools districts. The combined buying power of so many schools is what enticed vendors to sponsor the Food Show.

Jean Kyle, Region 5 Co-op coordinator, says, "Children are our ultimate customer. Bringing them in and letting them try these foods is well worth it. When we put food items on the menu that they picked themselves, the results are so much better than they would be without that input."