By Naelle St. Forte and Lillian Byrne

School lunch “sucks!” Some of the kids in the school say. Many students don’t bring food from home and don’t like what is being served so they ask others for food or end up not eating at all. This may all change in the near future since school lunches are getting revamped, you heard that right!

On February 7th the 6th grade Taste of the Cultures Spark went to the Office of Food and Nutrition, located in Long Island City, Queens with Ms. Elie and Ms. Alsahybi. About twenty lucky students, including the authors of this article, taste-tested five dishes with a chance to judge, describe, and discuss what works and doesn’t work in each dish. The experience included the opportunity to taste and rate never before tried items that can possibly be on the lunch menu across all schools in the city.

 The first dish was a baked fish with breadcrumbs and surprisingly it was really good for school lunch. Most of the students enjoyed the dish and ate most of it, if not all. Student Jori Lamce, from class 603, says it was delicious and that it was better than the fish selection we already have at the school. She thinks that it could have been a little bit more seasoned but it was still good. Xavier Louison, from class 601, says that the fish was good and tasted “fresh.” 

Another food the class tried was the “Better than Beef Burger”. Many of the students did not like the meal and thought that it lacked flavor and had a terrible texture. The class also had a curry dish with rice and tomato. Some of the students liked it and others didn’t. Students thought that the tomatoes needed to be cut up more or had too much flavor and others thought that it was perfect. 

Overall, many of the dishes seemed to be an upgrade from what we have now and could mean something for the future of MS.890 lunches and in fact many other schools around the City. Even though not all the dishes were great, the field trip was an amazing experience and many students would appreciate if the dishes be served in schools.