Instead of focusing on one area of school lunch, the USDA policies take a holistic approach where "changes include standards for school meals to increase fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy" options. S & S Bakery has adhered to the whole grain requirements and has even restructured its product line to meet the new standards. Overcoming obstacles in production, the bakery has shifted to support local students by following standards to include 51% whole grain in all school lunch products. However, the company also says that making the products available is only half the battle - students must find the healthy foods appetizing enough to eat them.
In response to this problem, the article discusses how many school districts are implementing tastes tests as a way to ensure quality foods. According to Fox, this week marked the School Nutrition Association's 66th Annual National Conference at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The report says that during the convention "over 6,300 school nutrition professionals [got a chance] to taste food and drinks to see what would work in their school." However, S & S Bakery has already been making taste tests a part of their quality control procedures for quite some time.
"Here at S & S Bakery we do our own informal taste tests by sending our employees home with samples for their kids. The feedback we receive really helps us to formulate products the kids will enjoy," Steven Fadick, company president, says. Even better, Fadick reports that children respond well to the bakery's products. For example, S & S Bakery's white whole-wheat flour, which contains all of the nutrition and fiber of normal whole-wheat flour, but incorporates a finer grain and a sweeter taste, has already emerged as a "kid-favorite."
