Teens Take on Cafeteria Food
Burbank High鈥檚 鈥楬ealth Squad鈥� to work side-by-side with school district chef on kid-friendly menu choices
Teenage rites of passage: Football games, the prom, yearbook autograph sessions and 鈥� complaining about cafeteria food. Whether the food is unhealthy (think pizza and burgers) or too healthy (salad), kids never seem satisfied with whatever it is on their lunch trays.
But instead of just griping about cafeteria fare, students of Luther Burbank High School鈥檚 after-school Food Justice Class are doing something about it. Today (Tuesday, May 17), the group will work with 麻豆视频 City Unified School District鈥檚 (SCUSD) Chef John Bays (formerly of Morton鈥檚 and Rio City Caf茅) to create new recipes hoped to please the fickle teen palate.
The cooking session and food discussion will take place TODAY (Tuesday, May 17) from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Luther Burbank High School cafeteria, 3500 Florin Road.
The Food Justice Class was established in January to teach kids
about nutrition and to 鈥渆mpower them to make a difference in
their community,鈥� said Aly Kronick, program coordinator for the
nonprofit agency Health Education Council, which runs the class,
funded by a USDA grant.
Kronick meets with the teens twice a week. Early on, they
expressed frustration with the 鈥渃ontent and cultural relevancy鈥�
of the food they are served at school, she said.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 know how to tackle the issue,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 know what would be heard and not heard鈥� by those in a position to alter the cafeteria menu.
Fortunately, their timing was perfect: SCUSD is also working to improve the food served to 30,000 students a day in cafeterias throughout the district鈥檚 81 campuses. Last spring, SCUSD Superintendent Jonathan Raymond formed the Healthy Foods Task Force 鈥� a coalition of district representatives and various partners 鈥� to bring healthier food to schools, including fresh, locally grown produce like oranges and strawberries.
Today (Tuesday, May 17), the students and Bays will create dishes suggested by the Burbank students, including Mexican tortas, a type of sandwich, baked macaroni and cheese, French toast bread pudding and chicken dumpling soup, a favorite in the Hmong community.