Cafeteria taste test

Vivek Sundaraman

Vivek Sundaraman, WTV Staff Reporter

Students on campus may be seeing some new items on the cafeteria menu. A sample of students on campus had the opportunity to meet with Frisco ISD nutritionists about lunch items being served in the cafeteria.

The discussion included student input on current menu items as well as taste testing some new items for the future.

“We actually did this last year where we met with student groups from various campuses across the district,” child dietician Melissa Duce said. “It kind of gives us a different way to look at what we are serving on the menu. we can look at the numbers and see what sells and what doesn’t, but that doesn’t really give us the full picture.”

While students can fill out surveys on the Frisco Cafe Website at any time, senior Stafford Johnson believes that this approach is more effective in getting student opinions.

“I think it will help them get better lunch options and will also solve some problems like not knowing what line is what and also get the word out to students about what is on the menu that day,” Johnson said. “I think getting student input is always good and getting in the physical form rather than a survey helps get live results rather than filling out a survey and not hearing back.”

Students also discussed how the variety and flow of the lunch lines could be improved in the cafeteria.

“I feel like its really good to have a voice because most of the time, students feel like they can’t say something because it is already established and that’s the way it is,” junior Pablo Alvarez said. “The fact that we can now figure out what’s going on within the lunch lines, it benefits students because they won’t feel forced to pick whatever is there already.”

Duce, the Frisco ISD nutritionist, believes that this form of communication with students is important in getting proper feedback.

“The little details that tell us what we could do to make certain items better, we would only get that if we actually talk to the students,” Duce said. “Individuals really do have a lot of influence on what we put on our menus, we listen to the students, we listen to the parents, and the teachers and we want that kind of feedback. A lot of students may not know that a lot what’s on our menu is decided by other students. Whether it is by meal purchases or taste tests, our menus are really student driven and I think that is important for everybody to know.”