Since the late 1940s, public schools have provided lunch to millions of children. While cheap, these meals often lacked fruits, vegetables and real nutrition, instead focusing on fat, sodium and more. However, following the appointment of Executive Director Shaun Sawko for FCPS’ Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) in July, plans for new food items began over the summer are finally being rolled out to selected schools as of late September. After the resounding successes in the first “trials,” the menu was fully launched in October of this year, dubbed the “Scratch-Made” menu.

The menu features food such as meatball subs, chicken quesadillas, fajitas, black bean burgers and other offerings. Now, every school in the county can try these items. This change will allow school lunches to be more enticing, with each day debuting a new menu item.

FNS held a “taste-testing” ceremony on Nov. 13, hosting over 200 students from various elementary, middle and high schools to get a first hand experience of what is to come in the cafeteria. The students had the chance to sample both lunch and breakfast items, such as Nashville-style hot chicken tacos, picadillo, Mexican corn and even fruit smoothies. FNS Director Shaun Sawko oversaw the event and spoke to the students about their thoughts. 

“I think, for the high school kids, they love the new menu, now [it] is not like, chicken tenders or hamburgers,” Pichamon Alvaz, the kitchen manager of Madison’s cafeteria line, said. “We have a new thing every week, they can try [it] and give us feedback on which ones they like, or on the quality of the food, so we can make it better, and, you know, a kid can drop a comment anytime, like, ‘hey, we don’t want this one,’ or [give a] suggestion. You can drop a comment to me, and I will record it, or [you] can email me [[email protected]].”

Though Pichamon has stated that students are excited about the new menu, it seems that most students at Madison who eat hot lunch have never heard of the menu, nor tried it. Many students simply didn’t know, or had little interest in trying out the new menu.