You have completed the Smarter Lunchrooms Scorecard and have identified goals for improving your cafeteria service. The main areas of concern are to build student involvement, develop creative menu names and to label food offerings on the service line to …
Food Marketing and Children: Threat or Opportunity for Schools?
Did you know that $1.8 billion dollars is spent on marketing foods to school-aged youth?1 Or that the average child sees 12-16 advertisements per day promoting food products high in saturated fat, sugar, or sodium?1
These statistics have …
Nutrition Program Spotlight: Wholesome Waves’ Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program
Overview
Wholesome Wave is a non-profit organization with a vision of making local and healthy foods affordable and accessible to all, and is particularly focused on underserved communities. In 2010, they piloted the Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program ® (also …
Shining Light on Atmospherics: How Ambient Light Influences Food Choices
Can different levels of ambient light luminance (i.e., brightness/dimness) influence food choices? More specifically, would bright versus dim ambient lighting influences choices for healthy and unhealthy options? The results of a series of experiments conducted by Dipayan Biswas (Professor at …
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP)
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) is a USDA grant-based program that offers funds to schools to provide students with fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the school day. The program began as a pilot program authorized by Congress in …
Communicating Healthy Eating Messages to Preschool Children
Talking to young children about their health can be challenging—is it better to grab their attention by warning against unhealthy practices or to encourage healthy ones? Preschool children are just developing their skills, especially nutrition and physical activity habits, and …
Eating On The Move: Healthy Pack-N-Go Snacks and Meals
Eating healthy is often associated with the false mindset that it’s harder than the other, often more expensive, options such as eating out or buying pre-packed meals. Change For Life, an initiative by the Department of Health in the UK, …
Is It Really More Expensive to Eat Healthier?
Is it really more expensive to eat healthier? Often, the general public assumes it is more expensive to eat healthier foods because an accurate method to analyze the costs of foods has not been available.
Realistically, it simply isn’t easy …
Chefs Move to Schools! Can it Really Change What Students Consume?
Chefs Move to Schools (CMTS), an initiative that is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign, is designed to increase awareness about and improve healthy eating among school students. The CMTS initiative is designed to introduce additional opportunities …
Local Food in Schools: How to Overcome the Barriers
If you’ve worked in school food service for any length of time you’ve probably been approached about incorporating locally grown foods into your menus. This movement, which continues to gain momentum, is commonly referred to as farm to school. Farm …