There is substantial evidence that children are not eating the recommended amounts of healthy fruits and vegetables. In an effort to motivate children to eat more fruits and vegetables, school cafeterias are now required to offer a fruit or vegetable …
Farm to School Bottom Line
Farm to School is an important and exciting program that supports local economies and promotes student interest in foods that are grown near their school or on site. For the food service director, the financial feasibility of the program is …
Inside Eyes: Getting Cafeteria Feedback from Peers
A useful strategy for improving our school meal programs is to elicit feedback from other school food experts. Who are these other school food experts? Why, they are the directors and managers from our neighboring school districts, of course! Such …
How Texture and Mouth-feel Impact Food Preference
Food manufacturers offer products with different textural properties to appeal to various consumer preferences. For instance, Ore-Ida offers many variations of French fries, such as the classic smooth Golden Fries and Golden Crinkles, and Keebler has introduced Chips Deluxe Soft …
Nutrition Report Cards Encourage Healthy Eating Behaviors and Dialogues
Are Nutrition Report Cards (NRC) a useful and feasible tool for promoting healthy food choices in school lunchrooms? An NRC features a list of foods offered in the lunchroom that indicates how many times a week children selected each item. …
Guiding Healthier Choices in Schools: The Case of Choice Architecture vs. Choice Restrictions
Recall your childhood, or even think back to recent interactions with your child or children. When they need to go to bed, how do you phrase it? Do you say, “Johnny, it’s 7:30 so you need to stop what you …
Decisions, Decisions: Behavioral Economics in the Lunchroom
Cornell University’s Smarter Lunchrooms Movement works to apply principles from behavioral economics to school lunchroom environments. Because individuals, including students, are influenced by their surroundings, behavioral theory can be applied to encourage healthier behaviors even in school lunchrooms.
Research in
The Conundrum of Competitive Foods: 3 Ways to Maintain Revenue and Promote Healthier Options
Food service directors have a tall order to fulfill: they must ensure the hundreds, or even thousands, of students they feed receive meals meeting specific nutrition standards, maintain participation in the school lunch program as well as promote healthier food …
Serving Up the Smile Factor: 5 Ways to Leverage Likeability and Increase Lunchroom Sales
Research shows that people prefer to say “yes” to individuals they know and like1,2. Likability is the best predictor of success for ad campaigns3 and has been a consistent indicator of the outcome of presidential elections4
Generating Buy-In From School Administration Officials
While most members of the school community are generally in favor of changes that can improve the school environment for students, one of the challenges that sometimes crops up when a Smarter Lunchroom Makeover is proposed is resistance from the …