to eat during their limited lunch period.

“School lunch needs to be more about the ease of eating it and
less about the presentation,” she says. “And, of course, it needs to
taste good.”
Moore says the students provided other helpful feedback as well,
including that some of the dishes
needed more spice or should have
the sauce served on the side.

Overall, the students on the
panel, including Addy, like the
Sweet-Heat Potatoes best. Moore
says the potatoes are set to be
added to the MCPS lunch menu
in January 2023, while the Yellow
Chickpea Curry was already added
in October.

Addy hopes that by being
exposed to more healthy options
like these, students will start to
choose them more often. “Right
now, kids are more likely to
take the foods they know, like
pizza,” she says.

Moore is hopeful that will change. “Studies show that the more
variety of fruits and vegetables kids are exposed to, the more likely
they are to eat them,” she says.

Real Food for Kids will continue its work to get more plant-based
foods into schools through its
Chef Exchange Program, in
which more restaurant chefs
like Chef Ype can create healthy
recipes for school menus. And
through its Student Nutrition
Advisory Council and its stu-
dent Culinary Challenge, more
students like Addy can influence
and create recipes that make it
onto the school menu.

“School lunch brings kids
together,” Moore says. “That’s
why it’s so important to create
dishes that celebrate the diver-
sity of cultures, religions and
diets in the student body.” T
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