Xpress, the Coolest Section of the St. Petersburg Times, is the home for features, news and views of interest to young readers. Most of the work in Xpress, which appears on Mondays in Floridian, is produced by the Times' X-Team. The team of journalists ages 9-17 from around the Tampa Bay area is selected every year at the end of the school year to serve during the following school term. The current team of 12 was chosen out of 150 applicants. Watch for X-Team application forms in Xpress during the month of May.
Read the reviews by Xpress Film Critic Billy Norris
Taste, the final frontier
By SHERRY ROBINSON, Times Staff Writer
Published April 4, 2005
Being weightless or picking up moon rocks is a cool thing to do if you are an astronaut. But after all that exertion, you might get a little hungry. To find out how the astronauts eat, the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa has added space food to the visiting exhibit, "Space: A Journey to Our Future." The exhibit continues at MOSI through May.
But what fun is it to just look at the packages of food that come in brown boxes and look a lot like the MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) for soldiers? So students from Stewart Middle School in Tampa, a magnet school that focuses on mathematics, technology and science, got up close and personal with the food recently during a taste test at MOSI.
Sixth-graders Ashley Howell, 11, and Komal Junejo, 12, and seventh-grader Kyle Davidson, 13, tasted everything from scrambled eggs and bacon to lasagna. And they washed it all down with a glass of orange drink.
They liked most of the food, but for Kyle the chicken was particularly tasteless. "The motto of the school is, "Don't Eat the Fish,' " Kyle said. "The motto here is, "Don't Eat the Chicken.' "
Each student said the scrambled eggs and bacon were good but too salty. Ashley did not give a score for the cheese tortellini because she doesn't like cheese. It's a good thing she didn't try it: Komal said it was too cheesy.
And Kyle said that while the pumpkin cake was good, it could use some whipped cream.
For information on the exhibit, call 813 987-6100 or (813) 987-6300 or visit the MOSI Web site at www.mosi.org
Staff photographer Melissa Lyttle contributed to this story.
