Consumers have many ways to share their voice when it comes to menus and restaurant reviews – good, bad or indifferent, opinions on Yelp or Google reviews can be taken into consideration by chefs and foodservice managers. It only makes sense that students are interested to share their voice in school menu choices too, which can be both empowering and satisfying as they evolve into future decision makers.
Food Service Specialist Lauren Bush prefers to go straight to her young customers when it comes to critical menu decisions for schools within the Region 5 Food Service Cooperative, comprised of 43 school districts in East Texas. Two food show expos each school year are held to showcase new food items and gather student feedback on what’s new in healthy school menu offerings. The Lufkin Expo took place in the fall and the Beaumont Expo will be celebrating its 25th anniversary on February 4th.
Students and nutrition staff from the more than 100 schools are invited to visit anywhere from 60 to 80 booths, sample potential new menu additions and learn about companies offering locally-grown or raised foods. Schools are asked to bring students, whether from home economics class, student council, culinary programs, whoever they feel will provide usable feedback to help shape menu planning decisions for their schools.
The fall expo helps decide mid-year menu additions and provides valuable student input to vendors. Local companies like Pryor Cattle Company have been longtime supporters and vendors, and in February, additional local companies, including Yellow Rose Beef and Doguet’s Rice Milling Company, will join the event.
Students are given packets with vendor information, they fill out survey forms and cards located at each vendor’s booth to share feedback on their favorite items sampled. Bush sorts through the information and sends it out to the vendors and to school districts.
“The students are our customers and the ones who eat the food so it only makes sense to get their input and make them stakeholders,” said Bush. “We want to know if students think something is too spicy or salty and what items they would want to see on their menu. It’s also good for the food vendors to hear from the students because they are brutally honest and don’t hold back.”
A goal of Region 5 Food Service Cooperative is to provide schools support to operate fiscally sound school foodservice operations while offering nutritious and tasty meals for their students. The financial aspect is also a benefit as cooperative purchasing results in lower prices and better quality – district requests are combined to bid the products in large volume, which encourages lower pricing.
“We encourage students to talk to the vendors as much as possible and go into detail, and they are rewarded with small gifts such as pencils or stress balls,” said Bush. “Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and they look forward to the next event as well as seeing their choices on the school menu.”
