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Sushi day a sign of the times

Hot dogs are out and sushi is in. This week kids at Myrtle Philip Elementary School lined up for California and cucumber rolls and said goodbye to the lowly wiener, so long the staple of fund-raising school lunch drives in Canada.

Hot dogs are out and sushi is in.

This week kids at Myrtle Philip Elementary School lined up for California and cucumber rolls and said goodbye to the lowly wiener, so long the staple of fund-raising school lunch drives in Canada.

"I think it is way better than hot dog days because I love sushi," said 11-year-old Merritt Patterson.

"And it’s much healthier."

This week over 950 sushi rolls were served, along with a donut, carrot sticks and juice, to the students.

"It’s a sign of the times," said principal Bob Daly.

"Children are well versed in the different foods that are out there now."

The idea to switch to sushi came up at a parent advisory committee meeting last month.

"It was enthusiastically received by the parents," said Daly.

Schools and parents groups have long struggled with serving hot dogs, generally accepted as not the healthiest of foods. But, said Daly, they were easy to prepare, cheap, and safe.

Food safety was a concern when it was decided to switch to sushi.

But, said organizer and PAC member Lisa Dykhuizen, the sushi comes straight from a local restaurant, Kaze, to the school and it contains no raw fish.

The profit margin is a little less, said Dykhuizen. The California rolls cost $2.50 and are sold for $3.50, whereas hot dogs cost just pennies and sold for $1.50. So far they’re making $325 each week.

But it looks like many more kids are signing up so more money should soon be rolling in.

New orders were stacked in the school office this week as more parents signed their kids up. To ensure kids get sushi the orders must be in the office by today (Friday).

And parents must send a plastic container to hold the sushi to cut down on garbage.

"The kids are all excited when they line up," said Dykhuizen.

"And feedback at the end of the day was that they thought it was fantastic.

"I car pool in the morning and the whole neighbourhood was saying they wished the sushi days were everyday of the week."