Kids taste-test lunch foods

School leaders called in the experts Friday to make sure they were buying the right kind of food to put on school lunch trays next year. And vendors were in the hot seat as 350 students got to taste their products.

The event showcased everything from pancakes and yogurt to chicken and muffins, and there was plenty of water available to cleanse the student food experts' palates.

Pizza seemed to be a top pick among the students, though most were unaware it was a "healthy pizza" with a whole-grain crust.

But if it were up to Kimberlyn Hood, a fourth-grader at Lynn Elementary in Ogden, she would have all the foods served at her school.

"It was all my favorite — I liked all of it," she said, though she favored the ice cream samples.

The event was the sixth annual student testing fair held by the Utah Cooperative for Acquiring Resources Efficiently. UCARE is a consortium of 12 school districts that have joined together to build buying power in purchasing food and supplies for the districts' child nutrition programs.

"We buy food for 44 percent of the state's schoolchildren — that is phenomenal buying power," said Karen Pace, chairwoman of the food fair and director of child nutrition in Sevier School District.

Students from all 12 of the districts in both upper and lower grades arrived, armed with clipboards and judging sheets, to taste more than 80 different foods.

Pace said district leaders have done their own testing every month during the year and then the top foods are sent to the food fair for the students to judge. If enough of the students like a certain food then it gets put on the shopping list.

"By letting them be the judges the students can really take ownership in it and take pride about making decisions about what could possibly happen on their school lunch plate," Pace said.

"Getting to decide what the whole school gets to eat is kind of a big thing to do," said Elexis Wood, a Lynn Elementary fourth-grader. And if it's up to her, honey sandwiches will not make the cut.

The 12 districts involved in UCARE include Alpine, Box Elder, Cache, Carbon, Emery, Jordan, Logan, Murray, Ogden, Provo, Sevier, and Tooele.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com