By Keighla Schmidt, Staff Writer

At a time when popular cafeteria items are usually empty-caloric pizza or brownies, students at Hidden Valley Elementary School are eating healthier hot dogs.

“I think it’s a good thing, it’s healthier and better for you,” said Kira Madsen.

The local, grass-fed beef hot dogs are part of a plan to get kids to make healthier choices said Roxanne Williams, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District’s director of food services.

The healthier choices are showing up in school cafeteria lines with help of the Dakota county-wide program called Smart Choices which combines money from a Blue Cross Blue Shield grant and the Statewide Health Improvement Program, or SHIP.  

 “The idea is to expose them to more things, to get them to try things and start liking and eating them,” Williams said.

Before the new lunch option was served this week, fourth-graders at Hidden Valley all got a lesson on the characteristics of fresh, local food.

“They said it was better to have food that’s from around here and that it would still taste good,” said Savage resident Makira Sy, 9.

Growing 9-year-old boys Jacob Nistler and Jackson Thellin, from Savage, said they usually like to dig into the school’s pizza, popcorn chicken and Italian dunkers, but the hot dogs were good, too. They said they would eat the hot dogs again, even though they’re not their favorite.

 “It’s good that it’s local,” Thellin said. “If it had to come a long way then it would get older and lose its taste.”

Sy and Madsen said they look forward to lunch when there’s macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets on the menu, but liked the hot dogs.

Madsen said she thought the grass-fed dogs were a little spicier, but she liked them.

 “They have a little thicker casing,” said Kitchen Manager Debra Jackson. “But otherwise they’re not really different. The kids seem to like them.”

Williams said the taste was a little different from the other all-beef hot dogs typically served in the cafeterias, but “the idea is to expose them to more choices.”

Students will also get to try corn and black bean salsa. “It’s about having them try something they might not get at home,” Williams said.

“You never know if the new things are going to be good or not,” Madsen said. “But it’s good to try.”

Williams said the money from Smart Choices will also pay for what she called a “sampling table,” of the salsa, but not enough for a serving for every student in each school. The grant aims to make long-term and sustainable changes in eating habits.

Right now the hot dogs and salsa options are being piloted in Sioux Trail and Sky Oaks elementary schools in addition to Hidden Valley. Kitchen managers in those schools volunteered to pilot the new options. Williams said depending on how the students react in those schools, the options will be expanded to other district schools.

Pat Stieg, chronic disease prevention coordinator for Dakota County, said District 191 schools in Scott County (Hidden Valley, along with Harriet Bishop and M.W. Savage elementary schools and Eagle Ridge Junior High School,) will all be included in the Smart Choices program as the district is based in Dakota County.

Hidden Valley fourth-graders said they noticed more fruits and vegetables in the lunch line, too.

“There’s been a lot of grapefruit,” Sy said.

Williams said the diversity of fruits and veggies is an intentional “enhancement” being done throughout all of the district’s schools.

 That’s because it is hoped that exposing students to more healthy options in the cafeteria will make them more likely to choose them when they’re featured on the menu and at home, Williams said.

Jackson said the new fruits have been a hit and students take more and like it.

 “It’s about teaching students that fruit can be a dessert,” she said. “With people not eating a great variety of fruits and vegetables … yes, we have a long way to go.”

Along with the expanded food choices, some of the grant money will be used to place a higher emphasis on physical education.

“That’s a big part of it, too,” she said. “The kids need activity.”

Some of the ways district officials are looking to spend the money dedicated to physical activities is by purchasing yoga balls to use as classroom chairs and Wii game consoles; plus setting up intramural leagues to encourage students to run around before or after school and asking students to ride their bikes to school, Williams said.

Keighla Schmidt can be reached at kschmidt@swpub.com