Diversity Yields Menu Dividends

“Diversity helps us communicate better to our customers, and we get great ideas for foods,” according to St. Paul Public Schools, St. Paul, Minn., nutrition services manager Linda Dieleman.

“Diversity helps us communicate better to our customers, and we get great ideas for foods,” according to St. Paul Public Schools, St. Paul, Minn., nutrition services manager Linda Dieleman.

Students are always offering their opinions. And St. Paul listens. For example, on the self-serve bar, they provide jicama as one of the fresh veggie choices and lime and chili powder as flavor additions. A group of students from Somalia shared how they enjoyed cinnamon on their rice, so this year the school is piloting chili powder and cinnamon shakers on the condiment bar. “Due to our students’ diverse taste buds, we already offer Louisiana hot sauce, Siracha hot sauce, soy sauce and three different salad dressings,” Dieleman notes.

And it’s not always just students influencing the meal options. Two mothers helped her staff develop Hmong Beef Fried Rice. “In the beginning,” Dieleman says, “an individual will provide advice on how to make a recipe as authentic as possible. We often choose one or two schools to roll out the new recipe and those students particularly enjoy giving feedback. Of course a child may say ‘that’s not how my mother makes it,’ so it can be a great conversation piece at lunch.”

Excerpt from FoodService Director Magazine’s October 15, 2007, article, “Diversity’s Many Faces.” Reprinted with permission of Ideal Media, LLC.