Fort Worth, Texas ? As she devours a sweet potato pancake at a taste test at her school, fourth-grader Paige Murset gives her seal of approval: “I like it. It’s really, really sweet.”

Next up was a “peanut butter and jelly sandwich” made with sunflower seeds instead of peanut butter.

Shante Brown sizes it up beautifully: “It was good, but it tastes like sunflower seeds.”

With their OK, such foods could make it into school cafeterias across the country.

They were among 40 fourth- and fifth-graders last week at Meadowbrook School testing food like blueberry burgers, dried plum barbecue sauce and asparagus salsa for a U.S. Department of Agriculture event celebrating National School Food Lunch week.

The USDA runs the National School Lunch Program and has often been under fire for not requiring healthier standards, particularly as the number of overweight children continues to grow.

“This is an opportunity to try out some brand-new food products and see if kids like them,” said John Perkins of the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Eric Foreman, a fruit and vegetable program administrator for the USDA, said the agency hoped the results of the taste test inspired those who prepared meals for the kids to get creative in putting more fruits and vegetables in school lunches.

“We want to help introduce products that are higher in nutrition, lower in fat, to the kids,” said John Lund, head of USDA’s food quality assurance program.

The smoky-tasting blueberry burgers — a combination of ground beef and blueberry puree — for instance, have the advantage of being lower in fat and packed with blueberries’ antioxidants.

Breanna Love, left, tastes nacho cheese sauce while Jordan Rogers, 9, records his impressions during a taste test of lunch foods last week at Meadowbrook School in Fort Worth, Texas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsored the taste test.

“It’ll be up to the students and the schools whether they’ll see these on their menus,” he said.

Lund said the kids’ opinions were vital: “They are our ultimate customer. If they’re not going to eat it, it’s plate waste.”

Foreman said events like the taste-testing helped schools get creative with the supplies. He said items that the kids approved of would eventually make it into newsletters and presentations to help get the word out.

Before the taste test, school and health officials had an assembly in which they talked to the kids about the importance of staying healthy and in shape. They also watched a play put on by their peers in which boxer Paulie Ayala stressed the importance of staying healthy for athletes.

Meanwhile, as she finishes off the last items of the taste test, Paige seems to be getting the message that eating well is important. She says it helps you to “be strong.”

“You can’t be overweight that much,” she said.