TASTE TESTS
St. Albans City School strives to offer taste tests to students on a regular basis. Tasting can occur in the cafeteria and in classrooms. The purpose for offering taste tests is to introduce students to healthy food choices they may be unfamiliar with. We have observed that taste tests often completely change student's opinions about a food item, thereby expanding their palates. Check out the beet chip video below to see a prime example of how well taste testing works.
Beet Chips -Super Popular with Kindergarten StudentsEach school year the Kindergarten students experience eating beet chips for the first time. One of the teachers, Tony Lewis, has extensive cooking experience. He breaks out his special slicing equipment (Mandolin Slicer) and processes the beets and potatoes grown by the previous year's kindergarteners on school property.
Almost all the students try the chips. Link to Beet Chip Video (2 minutes) |
MORE TASTING VIDEOS
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Taste testing pictures
Rainbow carrots and buttermilk dip
It was deep winter (2018) when students got to try some wonderful rainbow carrots. Because students generally like dips, the cafeteria chose to make a buttermilk dip to entice the students into trying this colorful root crop.
Many students gave the funny looking purple and yellow carrots and new dip a chance with mixed responses. Some loved the vegetables and dip, and others were pretty sure they would not like the sample only to have their fears realized. Quite a few students said they liked the carrots only, and others only the dip.
Many students gave the funny looking purple and yellow carrots and new dip a chance with mixed responses. Some loved the vegetables and dip, and others were pretty sure they would not like the sample only to have their fears realized. Quite a few students said they liked the carrots only, and others only the dip.
Turnip Soup
Angus Baldwin, a Jeffersonville root vegetable farmer, came to our cafeteria and handed out small cups of turnip soup samples (January 2019). One of the Abbey chefs, Jason, had created a delicious soup with Angus' turnips and some cheesy dairy products. Hundreds of students gave the soup samples a try, with most really liking the experience. LINK TO 30 TASTE TEST PICTURES
Cabot Cheese
Each month our cafeteria food service celebrates a local farm product, usually a vegetable or fruit. June is typically dairy month and this year (2019) our cafeteria invited a representative from Cabot Cheese to come and supply students with samples. Cabot is a well established and respected cheese producer in the state. Not surprisingly, the cheese samples were a hit. LINK TO 22 PICTURES