{"id":4169,"date":"2015-11-23T21:44:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T03:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-gordon-food-service.pantheonsite.io\/tips-on-how-to-serve-food-for-picky-eaters\/"},"modified":"2023-02-01T14:19:44","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T20:19:44","slug":"tips-on-how-to-serve-food-for-picky-eaters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gfs.com\/es-us\/ideas\/tips-on-how-to-serve-food-for-picky-eaters\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips on How to Serve Food for Picky Eaters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Snooze alarm once. Snooze alarm twice. The teen who has slept in right up to the edge of the being late for the school bus thumps downstairs looking to grab a bite of breakfast before bolting out the door. Does he choose a banana or an orange from the fruit bowl on the counter, or does he reach inside the pantry and grab a toaster pastry or an energy bar from the shelf? For most<\/span> students, the food in the pantry wins.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids often take the easy route,\u201d says Jan Faulman, Foodservice Director at Alpena Public Schools and Alcona Community Schools in Michigan. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot easier to open a package of fruit snacks than it is to peel an orange.\u201d But are these youthful eating choices a matter of nature or nurture? Do kids naturally acquire picky palates, or do they learn to be choosy?<\/p>\n

Four Types of Picky Eaters<\/h3>\n

A recent University of Illinois study involving parents of 170 children ages 2 to 4 found more than half of the kids exhibited picky eating behaviors that fit into one of four categories:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Sensory-Dependent Eaters: Kids who dislike food textures<\/li>\n
  2. Behavior Responders: Kids who refuse food not prepared the \u2018right\u2019 way.<\/li>\n
  3. Preferential Eaters: Kids who refuse to try new foods or complex recipes. <\/li>\n
  4. General Perfectionists: Kids who have specific needs and eat little variety.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    K-12 foodservice directors acknowledge that all four types of picky eaters are common in all grades. This suggests eating habits start long before a child eats his first school lunch.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe, as a society, have allowed kids to be menu-makers,\u201d Faulman says. \u201cKids choose the meal and the entire family eats it because no parent wants the guilt of having a child going hungry.\u201d <\/p>\n

    School cafeterias must walk a fine line\u2014serving the picky eaters while remaining in compliance with nutrition requirements. With this in mind, those in charge of school kitchens have some food for thought.<\/p>\n

    6 Tips to Overcome Challenges with Picky Eaters<\/h2>\n

    1) Offer Many Choices<\/h3>\n

    At Gaylord Public Schools in central Michigan, Foodservice Director Sandy Matelski says a salad bar is one way to let students choose what to put on their lunch tray. When students can choose the foods they want, you don\u2019t have to worry about matching individual tastes. Plus, there is less waste.<\/p>\n

    Taco bars offer a similar approach, with many options and combinations available to satisfy choosy eaters. <\/p>\n

    \u201cWhen Taco Bell chalupas became popular, we offered pre-assembled chalupas on the line, and kids didn\u2019t like it,\u201d Matelski said. \u201cBut, if we offer a soft taco shell and allow students to build their own chalupas, it\u2019s a huge hit.<\/p>\n

    Faulman says Alpena students are offered a wide range of entr\u00e9es daily, even at the elementary level, where there are four or five entr\u00e9es, plus fresh or canned fruits and vegetables to increase variety.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIn addition to the half-cup of orange slices we\u2019re required to offer as a fruit, we sometimes slip in a bit of peaches or some other fruit to test student preferences,\u201d Faulman says. \u201cAnd we also have boxes of raisins at the end of the line for students who don\u2019t choose a fruit as they go through.\u201d<\/p>\n

    2) Consider Color<\/h3>\n

    This is another factor that has paid off as Matelski\u2019s district adjusts to school food regulations. She says students were reluctant to even try some of the new foods that were first offered, so her staff worked to make meals more color-friendly.<\/p>\n

    \u201cStudents didn\u2019t like the color of black beans served as a side, so we mixed them with other vegetables,\u201d Matelski said. \u201cThey now love the Baja Black Bean Salad salsa we have created.\u201d<\/p>\n

    3) Engage Everyone<\/h3>\n

    Inviting students to the table starts long before lunch hour. CheyAnne Fant, Director of Nutrition Services at Barren County Schools in Kentucky, sits down with students as young as preschool age for taste tests.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s amazing what happens when one student sees another one touching, holding, and trying broccoli,\u201d says Fant, who serves about 571,000 lunches and 289,000 breakfasts a year at 11 cafeterias. \u201cInteraction leads to tasting, and tasting breaks down barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Fant says she also invites parents to join the taste-testing, and suggests schools conduct an invite-parents-to lunch (or breakfast) day.<\/p>\n

    Barren Schools also engage older students, using a mobile app that allows students to rate food and make suggestions. <\/p>\n

    \u201cWe had more than 2,000 ratings in the first semester\u2014most foods received 4 or 5 stars (the highest rating),\u201d Fant says. \u201cStudents also suggested grab-and-go boxed lunches that have become very popular.\u201d<\/p>\n

    At Gaylord Schools, Matelski takes a more direct approach, working with Gordon Food Service\u00ae and its suppliers to conduct a mini food show. Students get to sample new foods as well as taste foods already being served.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe bring in foods we think the kids will like, and we remind students of their options, reintroducing things they may have overlooked or forgotten about,\u201d she says. \u201cKids will be brutally honest with what they like and don\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n

    4) Focus on Favorites<\/h3>\n

    Faulman says Alpena puts a number of family-favorite casserole foods on the menu because that\u2019s what parents say students eat at home. She stresses the importance of listening to parent requests and paying attention to the foodservice staffers who have children or nieces and nephews who eat the school lunches.<\/p>\n

    Unfortunately, some favorite at-home meals don\u2019t fit school lunch requirements. At Gaylord Schools, Matelski says she and her staff have \u201cpounded down\u201d a lot of their recipes to make sure they can keep student favorites and meet food guidelines.<\/p>\n

    \u201cMac and cheese has always been a favorite, so we had to tweak the recipe using different cheeses to cut down on the sodium,\u201d she says. \u201cIt took a lot of trial and error until we found something that tasted just right.\u201d<\/p>\n

    5) Eat and Educate<\/h3>\n

    Because schools are a learning environment, it\u2019s the perfect place to teach healthy eating habits that can be modeled on the lunch menu and reinforced at home.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe way families live often has a direct impact on student success at school,\u201d Fant says. \u201cAnd the food available at home guides food choices students make at school\u2014they become less picky.\u201d<\/p>\n

    6) Have Fun<\/h3>\n

    Many happy memories center around mealtimes, so students should enjoy the experience. This includes having the occasional special meal as a reward.<\/p>\n

    At Barren County Schools, Fant says students look forward to \u201cCreate Your Own Pizza Day,\u201d where toppings include everything from the traditional cheese and ground meat to pineapple and Canadian bacon. <\/p>\n

    Faulman says seniors at Alcona Schools get a week at the end of the year where they choose the menu. They often pick favorites from the regular offerings, like pizza and Bosco sticks, but they\u2019ve also enjoyed setting up a sundae bar for dessert.<\/p>\n

    At Gaylord, Matelski says fun is a daily thing. That\u2019s why she tries to mimic a lot of popular foods. If students like something they\u2019ve eaten at a restaurant, she says she\u2019ll try to make it at the school kitchen if it fits within the budget and nutrition guidelines.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe have made a version of the Big Mac, and the students love it,\u201d Matelski says. \u201cAnd one of our kitchen staff members came up with a breakfast crunch wrap because she heard students talking about the ones they liked so much at Taco Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n

    When it comes to feeding picky eaters, there are plenty of options. Take it from Barren County\u2019s Fant: \u201cA little planning goes a long way.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Providing options, educating young diners and having fun can encourage school-age customers.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":4170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[112,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-k12-education","category-running-your-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTips on How to Serve Food for Picky Eaters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The market for meat alternatives is growing significantly and the humble burger patty is the fastest growing plant-based protein in the industry.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gfs.com\/es-us\/ideas\/tips-on-how-to-serve-food-for-picky-eaters\/\" 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