Gone are the days of mystery food being slopped down on your child's lunch tray each day. Chefs for Wichita USD 259 spent months planning dozens of new breakfast and lunch menu items for the 2015-2016 school year.
"We all know if kids eat better and they're full, they're going to pay better attention in school," said Andrew Terronez, specialist chef for USD 259.
A handful of the new items were available for the media to taste test Monday, before the first day of school. The nine lunches included: cheese hotdogs, twisted cheese breadsticks, rolled beef tacos, mini burgers, California vegetable blend, mini cheese calzones, veggie alfredo, chicken alfredo and teriyaki chicken noodle bowls
All items continue to meet USDA guidelines but also, Terronez said, appeal to kids because many are similar to foods they already eat outside of the cafeteria.
"Even though we have a prepackaged hamburger over there, it's going to be healthier than anything you grab in a gas station," he said. '"But that's going to appeal to kids because they're used to going into the gas station and grabbing a prepackaged hamburger."
The district's Food Production Center makes about 32,000 school lunches to be spread out around the district every single day. But not only are the chefs making these meals, they also eat them themselves every day for lunch as well.