Dozens of students, parents and school board members filtered into the cafeteria at Guilford Park High School last week for a school food taste test.
On the menu were fresh fruits and vegetables, New Orleans-style chicken, vegetable egg rolls, Philly cheesesteak and whole grain flatbreads with buffalo chicken breast and mozzarella cheese. Existing Howard County Public School System menu items cherry blossom chicken, French bread pizza and vegan chicken nuggets were also offered. Participants lined up at stations and rated each item with pen and paper.
The Thursday night event was part of the school system's pledge to improve school meals at all public schools beginning this school year, in cooperation with the Healthier Choices Coalition, under the Horizon Foundation. The coalition of county residents has been working toward policy changes to make healthier food and drink options more accessible and affordable for families.
Last year the coalition conducted a survey of about 375 parents and students asking for opinions on breakfast and lunch menu options in schools. Survey results called for fresher, healthier and better-tasting meals, and the coalition shared results with public school system officials in July.
What followed was a pledge from HCPSS officials, including Superintendent Bill Barnes and Brian Ralph, director of food and nutrition services, "to develop a countywide promotional campaign focused not only on providing healthier, nutritional and cost-effective meal options in our schools but also to find ways to support parent and student confidence in the food service program. We believe that the collaboration will also result in increasing food security and reducing hunger in a manner that inspires public confidence," according to a July news release.
Alice Harris, lead organizer of the Healthier Choices Coalition, said the group has been working for more than three years to "fight diabetes and hunger in Howard County and to make healthier food and drinks more accessible and affordable to everyone in our community." Harris said she believes the partnership between the school system and the coalition will help support students' academics and overall well-being by providing better nutrition.
"We are so excited about this new partnership with the school system to ensure that our students receive healthy, nutritious meals during the school day that will help support their academic and overall well-being," she said.
School system initiatives include a farm-to-school pilot program, nutritional education programs, at least two taste tests of current and new meal options for students and parents, town hall meetings with student and parent groups, collecting feedback throughout the year through the LINQ Connect portal, regional roundtable discussions on the cultural appropriateness of food served and a shared-table pilot program in certain schools to assess whether it could reduce food waste.
"We work really hard to make sure that our wonderfully diverse community of students see themselves reflected back in all parts of the school environment," Barnes said. "That includes our curriculum, it includes the way we celebrate our students on the walls of the buildings, but it also includes making sure that there are food choices that are similar to the choices they might receive at home or with their family."
When visiting different schools, Barnes said students' top concern was how school lunches could be improved to include more diverse or healthy options. The event further illustrated the school system's commitment to making progress and working with partners to bring food from local farmers into schools, Barnes said.
After trying different items, Barnes said the Japanese cherry blossom chicken was "delicious" and he was also impressed with the produce from local farmers.
For Viktoriia Sereda, a sophomore at Marriotts Ridge High School, the Philly steak and cut apples were her favorites, and new menu options were exciting. She said current menu options are usually "OK" but the pizza is often burned or cold. With potential new lunch options, "I'll definitely be eating lunch," she said.
Two Bollman Bridge Elementary School students, Joshua McGough and Amber Barkan, said the French bread pizza, a current menu item, was their favorite of the night. McGough said he enjoyed some dishes and didn't like others, but he couldn't try everything as a vegetarian.
The next taste test will likely be held in the spring, according to Harris, and before then community and town hall meetings will be held. Barnes said the school system will take the feedback to see which items will join the menu and work to adjust policies and procedures so local farmers and vendors have a fair chance.
The coalition will look at the data from the taste test with open minds to help inform menu changes, which could be done as early as January in pilot schools, Harris said. The conversation around healthier school lunches has been ongoing for years, but changes weren't always made, she said. Along with the six initiatives, the coalition has an action plan, a timeline and partners to hold each other accountable, Harris said, so they're able to get things done.
"What I've learned is you can have great ideas, but you have to have a community supporting it, behind it, and moving it forward," Harris said. "You can sit in a meeting room, but action takes place in a community."