The days of mystery meat are long gone in school cafeterias, but that doesn’t mean the menus don’t need to be updated every now and then.
Next year’s San Diego Unified School District menu will get a pick-me-up, courtesy of two students who won a recipe contest designed to promote healthy lunch offerings and make the cafeteria a more appealing place to eat.
Ocean Beach Elementary School fourth-grader Zarai Rosenzweig-Bullard won first place in the contest for students in Kindergarten through fifth-grade with her “Terrific Turkey Tacos.” Correia Middle School eighth-grader Ava Marie Bunn took first place among students in sixth-grade through high school for her “AVAcado salad.”
In addition to influencing the cafeteria menu, the young foodies also won an Amazon Kindle Fire in the district’s second annual Kid’s Create Recipe Contest.
The younger elementary students were charged with concocting a personal recipe for the district’s new Taco Tuesdays menu, which will make its debut in school cafeteria’s come fall. The contest required the students to list ingredients and provide detailed, step-by-step instructions under rules that were inspired by the state’s Common Core curriculum.
The older children were tasked with creating an entrée salad comprised of greens, fruit and whole grain pasta or whole grain rice. All recipes had to meet the school district’s nutritional guidelines.