Middle-school critic takes aim at Thurston cafeteria

A young food critic has been stirring the pot with his online reviews.

When Noah Rosen, 14, started YourTasteBuddy.com in December 2011, he didn’t think it would arouse much interest. His first posts evaluated local eateries, such as Sushi Laguna, Ruby’s Diner and 370 Common, his favorite.

On April 12, he reviewed his school cafeteria. His criticism was unsparing.

“The dreaded Thurston Middle School cafeteria is a lottery of food failures, flavorless mediocrities and ill-conceived ‘balanced’ nutrition,” he wrote.

Noah posted pictures of a grilled cheese sandwich and a hot dog in aluminum foil bags, as well as a chicken burger topped with bacon and cheese.

“Yeah, my first review was direct and blunt and harsh,” he said in a recent interview.

A short while later, he hung a poster at school, advertising his website.

Principal Jenny Salberg, he said, suggested that he remove the review of the school food from his blog, adding that if he did not, the poster would be taken down.

Noah, wanting his poster visible during open house night, complied with the request.

“I wanted that exposure,” he said.

The poster was taken down after a usual two-week rotation, the principal said and the student confirmed. Salberg did not wish to comment on the contents on Noah’s website.

Noah then sought the thoughts of his peers. After all, he said, they’re the ones being served. He polled 56 fellow Thurston Middle School students, a range of students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. He posted the results to his blog on June 19.

His peers tried the cafeteria’s cheeseburger, chicken burger, popcorn chicken, pasta salad, hot dog, grilled cheese, taquitos and sides. A lunch at Thurston costs $4.50, but will be reduced to $3.90 in the new school year.

“Cheese doesn’t taste like cheese, meat tastes like rubber,” one student wrote about the cheeseburger.

Regarding the bagged cheese sandwich, a panelist wrote “revolting” in all caps and said it had a “bad oil smell.”

“It’s really horrible,” someone said about the chicken burger. Another concurred: “bacon and cheese were awful.”

Not all reviews were negative. A student remarked the hot dog tasted “all right, like any other hot dog,” and another said that the popcorn chicken was his or her second favorite item on the menu.

The chicken burger tasted “fine,” one reviewer wrote, and two panelists called the taquitos “really good.”

Though the results could not be called scientific, 44 of 52 respondents to an additional survey Noah conducted rated the meals poorly. Eight termed them acceptable or good.

He said he hasn’t heard from the principal since his latest review.

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Mom’s views

Noah’s mom, Bree Burgess Rosen, said she was surprised after hearing the district talk of improvements only to discover that the food wasn’t meeting her son’s expectations.

“The food is not really what parents have been told — that it’s fresh, local and improved,” she said.

During a May 22 school board meeting, Food Services Director Debra Appel led a presentation enumerating the district’s nutritional programs, which offer salad bars, whole grains and unprocessed fare.

This district has the nutrition committee, which is made up of parents, staff and some students.

School board member Jan Vickers, who has served on the nutrition committee for two years, has read Noah’s blog.

The committee does take opinions from high school students, but not middle school students — at least not yet. It has discussed adding students from the middle school and elementary schools, she said.

She noted the bureaucratic process isn’t quick.

“We’re trying to incorporate students, but obviously from what Noah wrote, we haven’t gone out for enough direct feedback from Thurston students,” she said.

Getting youth to eat healthy food, as any parent can attest, is a challenge.

“As you may know, many students prefer to eat food such as hamburgers, French fries, chili fries, energy drinks, ice cream, cookies, soda, etc.,” Laguna Beach Unified Supt. Sherine Smith said in an email. “We have to achieve the balance of healthy food offerings that are also appealing to students.”

She noted only 20% of families participate in the meal program.

Noah said the district is underestimating the tastes of tweens, adding that there is a number of students who take advantage of the state’s free lunch program there.

They’re essentially “trapped,” Noah said.

Fifty-eight students get free lunches at the middle school and 19 get reduced prices, according to district spokesman Gerald Vlasic.

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Arts high school

Noah’s passion could translate into a career. In the fall, he starts the ninth grade at a culinary conservatory program at the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana.

Although he won’t attend a local school, he said he’s not giving up.

“This is my hometown,” he said. “I think if you don’t criticize your school, there’s never going to be improvements.”

Noah said he always thought he’d want to be in the kitchen, but now he sees a future as a food critic.

[email protected]

Twitter: @joannaclay