TASTE THIS
Students help decide what's on the menu
By SCOTT POWELL Ledger Staff Writer spowell@gaffneyledger.com

Hopco Food Service Marketing sales representative Keith Whipple prepares samples of French toast sandwiches Thursday for Gaffney Middle School students to taste-test at lunch.

Blacksburg and Gaffney high students will soon find a new pizza offering on the lunch menu.

The school district plans to begin serving personal pan pizzas to high school students, said Roland Cabading, the district's food service supervisor.

"The equipment has arrived and is being installed in the cafeterias. The staff will go through three to five days of training," Cabading said. "We hope to begin serving the personal pan pizzas to students in the next two weeks."

Personal pan pizza is one of several new food items that have appeared on school breakfast and lunch menus in recent months. School cafeterias are offering different menu choices in an effort to encourage more students to participate in school lunch and breakfast programs.

Hot chocolate has been served in Blacksburg and Gaffney high cafeterias since January. Because it's made with heated milk, the hot chocolate counts as one of the milk servings required to be served to students.

"Many high school students are serving themselves and having hot chocolate with their breakfast in the morning," Cabading said.

Students in several county schools have participated in taste-tests of new products being rolled out by district food vendors.

Blacksburg Elementary third graders sampled a Toastee Dog" on Tuesday morning. This prepackaged food item is a sausage wrapped in toast with cheese on it.

Gaffney Middle School students tried out French toast sandwich plates Thursday morning. The French toast was brought out by Keith Whipple, a sales representative with Hopco Food Service Marketing in Charlotte.

Whipple is among several food vendors who occasionally approach Cabading about the possibility of adding new menu items in local schools.

"We've had taste tests in several schools this year to find out whether students will like a new food item," Cabading said. "If we get a positive response, there is a possibility we might add it to the menu. We always try to offer food that students will enjoy eating."

Some experiments simply don't work.

Broccoli soup is one new food item that wasn't a hit with county students this year.

Blacksburg Elementary third graders didn't particularly care for the "Toastee Dog."

Cafeteria manager Susan McDaniel said she wonders if the "Toastee Dog" food item might have gotten a more positive reaction from older students.

"The third graders didn't really care for the Toastee Dog. It was served on pieces of toast and they prefer softer bread," McDaniel said. "Our staff seemed to enjoy it. I think it might be aimed more towards an older group of children."

This type of feedback is valuable for schools in planning menus. Sometimes the menu requests from students catch school officials off guard.

"We had some high school students who wanted us to serve coffee at breakfast," Cabading said.