Idaho school cafeteria lunches are going gourmet

School cafeterias are kicking it up a notch, providing kids with more gourmet food in the lunch line – and the days of what most of us ate in the school cafeteria are long gone.

Blackfoot School District (55) Child Nutrition Supervisor Tami Robinson said she has been trying to integrate these new state-designed recipes into her lunch menus, in the hopes that these kids will find a delicious way to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

“School lunch programs across the nation, and especially in Idaho, are working very hard to not just meet the regulations that we have to, but to also provide meals the kids will eat and enjoy,” Robinson said. “That’s the key word – they need to enjoy it.”

But the challenge is getting some of these young kids to just try these new, more sophisticated lunch meals, when their palates haven’t developed quite the sophisticated taste buds yet.

On Tuesday the state released a series of cooking videos to show some of the local school district chefs how to make these meals just as appetizing for their students.

Here is a link to those videos:http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/cnp/chef/chefDesignVideos.htm

Although some of the local school districts have already started integrating a portion of the new recipes, they have yet to see what the full-immersion will have in store.

But, Robinson said, after these kids muster up the courage to try something new, she says they usually end up liking it.

And that’s without them knowing just how many vegetables they’re really eating.

View the full story tonight at 6:00 on Local News 8 and at 5:30 on Eyewitness News 3.

Here is a link to the full menu:http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/cnp/chef/docs/CHEF%20Designed%20School%20Lunch.pdf