{"id":362785,"date":"2026-08-04T20:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T20:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/362785\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T20:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T20:20:11","slug":"broward-students-get-sneak-peek-at-new-school-lunch-menu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/362785\/","title":{"rendered":"Broward students get sneak peek at new school lunch menu"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOLLYWOOD \u2014 Yuridya De La Cruz smiled, lunch tray in hand, as she chose new foods to sample.<\/p>\n

De La Cruz, a 16-year-old rising junior, joined fellow students Tuesday for a taste-testing event presented by Broward County Public Schools. They previewed the new lunch menu for the 2026-27 academic year. The first day of school is Monday.<\/p>\n

On the new menu are chicken lo mein with vegetable egg rolls and arroz con pollo, as well as no-meat options such as street corn, cajun fries, and a plant-based \u201cfiesta wrap\u201d and \u201cfiesta salad\u201d for K-12 students. High school students also will see the jalapeno egg patty and a beef burrito bowl in their cafeterias.<\/p>\n

The menu additions were based on student taste tests and feedback, said Elizabeth Seeley, a registered dietitian with BCPS Food and Nutrition Services. Students wanted \u201cmore vegan, vegetarian options,\u201d and meals with \u201cmore spice\u201d that were \u201cmore culturally representative,\u201d said Seeley, who helped plan the new items.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of students, and all of them have different likes and dislikes,\u201d Seeley said. \u201cWe want to make sure that we are providing a wide variety of meals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA jalapeno egg patty sandwich is a new lunch menu item for Broward County schools this year. It was displayed at South Broward High School in Hollywood on Tuesday. (Amy Beth Bennett \/ South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n

At Tuesday\u2019s taste-testing event at South Broward High School in Hollywood, five students vetted the option.<\/p>\n

The clear favorite among the five students, all rising juniors and seniors at South Broward High School, was the street corn. The lo mein was a close second.<\/p>\n

Mya Oyola, 16, called the new options a \u201cbig upgrade.\u201d Oyola normally packs a lunch at home, but said she\u2019s \u201cgoing to be eating school lunch a lot more now.\u201d<\/p>\n

De La Cruz and Andre Rua, 17, both said they appreciated the variety the new fare would bring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of stick to the same things over and over,\u201d Rua said. \u201cWith these new menu items, I would say it\u2019s a higher chance of me wanting to go to other lines, get more of a variety.\u201d<\/p>\n

De La Cruz said lunch had become an \u201ceveryday repetitive thing,\u201d consisting of the same pizza or chicken sandwich. She was \u201cvery excited\u201d to add the new items into the mix.<\/p>\n

\"SeniorSenior Andre Rua, 17, gives an interview Tuesday as he tastes dishes during an event held to announce new lunch menu items for Broward County schools. (Amy Beth Bennett \/ South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n

This school year, 141 Broward schools will provide free lunch to all students through the federal Community Eligibility Provision program, which funds school meals in low-income areas.<\/p>\n

South Broward High is one of the 80 Broward schools this year that did not qualify for the program, according to Seeley.<\/p>\n

At these 80 schools, lunch will cost $4 for elementary students, $4.35 for middle schoolers, and $4.50 for high schoolers, according to a June press release<\/a> from the school district. The new prices are a $1 increase<\/a> from the 2025-2026 school year.<\/p>\n

At schools charging for lunch, students can still qualify for free or reduced lunch though a Meal Benefits Application at myschoolapps.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew school lunch menu items include cajun fries, chicken lo mein with vegetable eggroll, street corn and arroz con pollo. The foods were offered during an event Tuesday at South Broward High School in Hollywood. (Amy Beth Bennett \/ South Florida Sun Sentinel)
\n\"AA burrito bowl is a new lunch menu item for Broward County schools this year. (Amy Beth Bennett \/ South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOLLYWOOD \u2014 Yuridya De La Cruz smiled, lunch tray in hand, as she chose new foods to sample.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,113,28,249,251,250,266,115,109,32797],"class_list":["post-362785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-education","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-social","tag-south-florida-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}