Creating kid-approved cuisine

Earlier this month, members of the Schwan’s Chef Collective traveled to West Ashley High School in Charleston, S.C., where they developed several kid-approved menu items with help from Walter Campbell, executive director of nutrition services, and his team, as well as West Ashley students. Here’s an inside look at how those menu items came to be.

Along with a quick tour of the school and kitchen, members of the Schwan’s Chef Collective began the week by hearing fromDECA, a student-led business organization. DECA had conducted a study on students’ favorite foods that also looked at why students eat school lunch or not. 

That afternoon, members of the Collective worked the lunch line with West Ashley cafeteria staff for a first-hand look at what it takes to serve meals during the lunch rush.

The team then brainstormed with Charleston County school nutrition officials to come up with potential menu items that students would love based on the results of DECA’s study. 

The following day, culinary students at West Ashley worked with the members of the Collective to test the recipes developed during the brainstorm. At the end of the ideation session, the team chose two dishes to serve for lunch the following day. 

One of those dishes was chicken lo mein, which 707 students chose for lunch the next day. Just over 400 students selected the second dish, taco pizza.