IN SCHOOL FOOD FIGHT, EVERYBODY LEAVES A WINNER PUPILS PICK MENU OFFERINGS.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

GLENDALE -- Horace Mann Elementary School's fifth-graders got into a food fight recently, but not the messy kind.

They argued the finer Epicurean points as they employed their taste buds to help plan the June menu for the Glendale Unified School District's 13,000 elementary students.

In an exercise the district does regularly, elementary students receive menu-planning power to choose more of what they want -- and learn nutrition at the same time. Rowena Domantay's fifth-grade class at Mann Elementary School recently got their turn to play young Paul Prudhommes and Emeril Lagasses.

``Everybody had their opinion,'' said Arpine Gevoryan, 11. ``Some people were like, `We don't like this.' Some people are like, `We like it.'''

Heated arguments ensued. Is caramel apple dip better than caramel apple pie? Winner: the dip.

On the healthier side, the students spent a morning sampling breakfast items, from a corn-based scone (they liked it) to Kashi Mighty Bites cereal (they didn't).

They also told a district representative what they wanted to see more often at cafeteria lines. For more far-out suggestions, like vegetarian sushi, the item was only served at Mann Elementary as a special treat.

``The students are my customers, and it's really important to get some input from them because they're the ones who are going to eat the food,'' said Agnes Lally, director of the GUSD's Food Services division.

In neighboring Los Angeles Unified School District, some students have a say about what they eat, serving on 82-student taste-test panels that allow them to give the thumbs-up or thumbs-down to everything from new sandwiches to a chicken teriyaki bowl.

But Lally hasn't heard of any other school district that lets students help plan a month's worth of cafeteria offerings. Neither has Phyllis Bramson-Paul, the California Department of Education's director of nutrition services, who applauds what Lally's doing.

``She was sharing with her colleagues across the state (recently) that by serving a fruit smoothie, that ultimately improves the attractiveness of the meal so that more kids are eating a school lunch, which is absolutely wonderful,'' Bramson-Paul said.

Lally is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who ran a catering business and experimented with different spices in dishes for their children. They wanted Lally to become a doctor. She entered the food business instead.

``I just love working with kids, and that's how I got into it,'' she said.

GUSD elementary students pick from about six lunch items a day. This month, everything from oven-baked chicken to turkey corn dogs ended up on the menu designed by the Horace Mann class.

Foods elementary students pick in menu-planning exercises don't end up at middle and high school cafeterias because secondary schools don't have a revolving daily menu.

Half the food served to students is ``homemade'' by food service workers, while the other half comes pre-made from companies and chains like Domino's and Chuck E. Cheese's, Lally said. The food services division would need more staff members to move away from ordering pre-made meals from outside companies.

Brandon Sevilla, 10, was one of the Horace Mann students who planned June's cafeteria menu. Next year, the fifth-grader will go to Roosevelt Middle School.

``I heard that in Roosevelt, people get fatter because of the oily food at Roosevelt,'' Brandon said. ``I'm going to get all the junk food ... I mean, all the healthy food, you can.''

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Brandon Sevilla, 10, a fifth-grader at Horace Mann Elementary School, picks at some sushi during lunch.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer