PEORIA, Ill. – The Peoria Public School Board may try before they buy.
The board Monday night tabled a motion to approve a new one-year, food service contract with OrganicLife for more than $3.8 million. The district’s current provider is Sodexo.
Board member Gregory Wilson says the changes are coming because students are not happy with the food they’re currently getting at school.
He suggested the board put themselves in the shoes of the students and teachers who would have to eat the food every day.
“I think it’d just be prudent to just taste the food that we would vote on for $3.8 million dollars, and something that’s very important right now,” Wilson said.
Wilson added that OrganicLife could be coming to the district’s next school board meeting on May 8th with samples to try. It was also suggested that some students come to the meeting and try the food.
Although other board members didn’t disagree with the idea, some felt that what the board members liked and what students liked could be different.
Board member Anni Reinking agreed with that sentiment, but says it’s still about making an informed decision.
“We all have different palettes, we all eat really spicy food before here, and we all talk about how we all have different spice levels,” Reinking said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t tell the community we’ve tried it, we know what it looks like, we know what the experience is.”
Three other companies submitted bids for the contract; Sodexo, Whitsons, and Arbor Management.
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