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 taste buds taste npl → Geschmacksknospen pl 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 Scone (sk  n), village, Perth and Kinross, central Scotland. Old Scone, west of the modern village of New Scone, was the repository of the Coronation Stone (see under coronation) and the (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 food services Hospital services A 24/7 department in a hospital that provides for the nutritional needs of inpatients–eg, those needing special diets, preparing meals and transporting them to the floor and, through the cafeteria, the hospital staff and division. In neighboring Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. , 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 ter·i·ya·ki n. A Japanese dish of grilled or broiled slices of marinated meat or shellfish. [Japanese : teri, glaze + yaki, to broil.] Noun 1. 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 smooth·ie also smooth·y n. pl. smooth·ies Slang 1. A person regarded as being assured and artfully ingratiating in manner. 2. A smooth-tongued person. , 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 GUSD Glendale Unified School District (California) 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 <noinclude></noinclude> Chuck E. Cheese's is a chain of family entertainment centers. The concept centers around a basic sit-down pizza restaurant, complemented by arcade games, small rides, animatronic characters, and other popular diversions for young , 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 junk food n. Any of various prepackaged snack foods high in calories but low in nutritional value. junk food ... I mean, all the healthy food, you can.'' alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com (818) 546-3304 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Brandon Sevilla, 10, a fifth-grader at Horace Mann Elementary School Horace Mann Elementary School may refer to:
John McCoy/Staff Photographer |
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