JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Students in Duval County will start off the next school year with a brand new menu for breakfast and lunch. Nearly 1,500 students taste-tested hundreds of food options at the Prime Osborn Convention Center and filled out surveys on what they liked and didn't like.
The district's food service provider, Chartwells, will narrow those results down and pick the new food menu based on the favorites.
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There were hundreds of food options offered Wednesday for the K-12 students to try, including healthy snacks like fruits and veggies. The food service company said they want a menu that makes the kids happy but is also going to keep them healthy.
"I liked this hamburger patty with honey BBQ sauce and it was really good. I think that should be on my menu," said Lavariay Ray.
"What I tried in there was a smoothie, and I liked the strawberry banana smoothie and it was good," said Corarie Washington.
Ray and Washington are just like any 10-year-olds. They know what they like and what they don't like.
"I didn't like a hamburger patty. It didn't have any seasoning," Ray said.
Washington agreed saying, "I didn't like the same thing, the patty, because it was kind of plain."
The students carried around pen and paper, keeping track of their favorites.
All Duval County public schools are getting new breakfast and lunch menus starting the next school year. The food service company Chartwells said it's about offering nutritional options and providing the kids with what they want.
"What we're doing is preparing for next year. These are some products, whether a commodity item we process or a purchase item like Kellogg's or Tyson," said Eric Bankhead, regional director of Chartwells. "So when we get the surveys, we will tabulate the results, and those are the items we will look to put on the menu for next year."
The prices for breakfast and lunch will remain the same with the new menus. For lunch, elementary students pay $1.75, secondary students pay $2.25, studnet pay $0.40 for reduced-price lunches and adults pay $3.
Ray and Washington can't wait to have more options.
"Sometimes we come to school and we don't pack a lunch or anything, and once we're there we end up with some food we don't really like, and that's not fair," Ray said.
"Sometimes we only get to pick one option, and some kids come to school hungry and they don't really like what we have," Washington said.
This was the first taste-testing event the national company Chartwells has done. It said all the food was specifically selected for Duval County to make sure it fit in with health guidelines.
It's expecting to pick the final menu sometime at the beginning of the new year. Click here for more information on the new menus.