I thought I was a tough critic until I met 7-year-old Aidan Tang of Ellicott City. The sauce “wasn’t good” on a beef dish he tried at a taste test hosted by Howard County schools to rate new menu options the system is exploring. He hated the veggie egg roll “because it had a texture I didn’t like,” rating it a 1 out of 5.
Complaining about school lunches is an American tradition. But Howard County has been looking to make improvements, offering healthier options and internationally inspired items that reflect the growing diversity of the student body.
And it has announced a series of taste tests to allow parents and students to check out potential new items. The first was held Thursday night at Guilford Park High School in Jessup. The next will be in the spring in Columbia.
About 560 people signed up for the inaugural event, so many that the organizers needed to shut down registration, said Brian Ralph, director of food and nutrition services for the school system. Three national vendors came to spoon up samples, which attendees were invited to rate on taste, look and smell.
The taste test is one of several initiatives put forth by the school system in partnership with the Horizon Foundation and Healthier Choices Coalition to improve what kids eat.
In a previous survey, Alice Harris, the lead organizer of the Healthier Choices Coalition, saw a pattern of culturally diverse families writing that there is nothing available on school menus for their children.
“We are being responsive to those kinds of needs,” Harris said, so that all children can have an option besides bringing a packed lunch.
Harris is looking forward to the day when the school system has a menu that provides meals for all students — that they can enjoy with their peers at the lunch table.
Parents and kids also tried out a few items that are currently served in school cafeterias. The aim was partly to address some myths about school food, Ralph said. One is that the food isn’t healthy. Across the U.S., strict federal guidelines dictate how much salt and fat can be in the food. Cafeterias need to serve whole grains, and there are limits to added sugar. In fact, students who eat school lunches have a better overall diet than those who don’t, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I kept that information in mind as I tried a few of the existing — and potential — menu items. I rated them from best to worst.
New options
Best: Egg roll and New Orleans chicken from Asian Food Solutions
Seven-year-old Aidan Tang wasn’t a fan, but I thought this baked egg roll was a decent, low-calorie version of the takeout staple that I would reach for at home or work. I’d flout the federal guidelines on sodium and add soy sauce, though. Sure, it was slightly mushy, but we’re grading on a curve. And while I’m not sure what was “New Orleans” about the New Orleans chicken that went with it, this Asian-inspired dish, which featured chunks of meat in a slightly too-sweet sauce, was juicy and tender.
Middle-of-the-road: Buffalo chicken with mozzarella on whole-grain flatbread from Tastybrands
I have cobbled together worse lunches in The Baltimore Banner newsroom than this Buffalo chicken with mozzarella on flatbread from Tastybrands. Beyond a slightly spicy flavor, I couldn’t really detect the presence of chicken — which is served in cold-cut form. But the combination of melty cheese and whole-grain flatbread created a serviceable, tasty-enough sandwich for just 280 calories.
Nope: Seasoned beef “Philly” steak from J.T.M.
Many school lunches suffer from the “mystery meat” problem, whereby the texture of the protein forms a squishy congealed loaf unlike anything you might find at the butcher shop. That was my issue with the “Philly” steak, served with your choice of Korean barbecue or birria-inspired sauce. “Philly” is in quotes in the name of this dish, but it should really be the “steak” part.
Existing lunch items
Best: Japanese cherry blossom chicken
I was pleasantly surprised by this dish, already on offer in Howard County school cafeterias. Although the chicken, produced by Asian Food Solutions, lacked the delicious deep-fried crunch you’d expect from orange chicken that you ordered at a restaurant, it featured a decent sauce and whole pieces of chicken, not mystery meat.
Middle of the road: French bread pizza
Pizza that’s just OK is still pretty good, and the French bread pizza from Mickey’s Brands falls under this category. The bread would be tastier, in my opinion, if it were white instead of whole grain, which has a mushier texture and that telltale bran-like flavor, but you can’t fault the schools for following federal guidelines.
Noooo: Vegan nuggets
While it’s great to see schools offering a vegan alternative to the traditional nugget, there must be a better solution to the vegan nugget than these little sponge squares crusted in crumbs from MorningStar Farms. It’s giving prison food.
Noooooooo: Charbroiled beef patty
Like the vegan nuggets, these charbroiled beef patties from Don Lee Farms carried an unnervingly spongy texture that gave me the willies. 1 out of 5.
Baltimore Banner reporter Jess Nocera contributed to this article.
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