- October 31, 2024
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A food "fight" to benefit all students.
This week, Volusia County Schools' School Way Café is hosting several "Pizza Wars" at schools across the district to determine what brand of cheese and pepperoni pizzas will be served in cafeterias next school year. On Tuesday, March 12, it was Seabreeze High School's turn to vote.
About 80 students — weightlifters, football and volleyball players — voted for their favorite slice of pizza pie in the event, which featured blind tastes tests and a free T-shirt for participating. Pizza Wars will garner the opinion of 1,200 students by the end of the week, a figure composed of elementary, middle and high school students.
"They're our customers," said Autumn Garrison-House, a coordinator for School Way Café. "We want them to be satisfied with what they're getting and also we want to make sure it's a nutritious meal."
Five years ago, School Way Café conducted a similar taste testing to find out what students wanted for lunch, but this year's Pizza Wars is a bigger event, Garrison-House said. School Way Café also has a Food Matters Task Force, which was formed about four-and-a-half years ago, she said.
"What we started doing is we bring in different products and test it out with the students," Garrison-House said. "And if it doesn't pass 80%, we don't want to put it on our menu, so we're trying to make sure we're getting things that they actually like and want to come in and eat."
At Seabreeze High School, School Way Café serves about 900 meals a day, counting both breakfast and lunch.