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 …
Tray Waste Part III: Effectively Present Your Data
The data that you collected can tell you the percentage of food being wasted before and after you implemented a change in your cafeteria. It will also tell you how many students are selecting food items. If food waste has …
Tray Waste Part II: 5 Simple Steps to Efficiently Measure Tray Waste
Measuring tray waste can give insights into what foods kids are eating and what foods are being thrown away. In order for the healthy foods to give students nutritional benefits, they must first eat them! Before and after implementing changes …
Tray Waste Part I: Determine the Impact of Lunchroom Changes by Measuring Tray Waste
Making healthy changes to the school lunchroom is a no-brainer, but how do you know if those changes are really making an impact?
Schools participating in USDA school meal programs are faced with regulations that dictate what foods kids can …
Slice It Up: Serving Pre-Cut Fruit can Increase Fruit Consumption
MyPlate and USDA’s new nutrition standards for school meals have placed greater emphasis on getting students to eat more fruit. Yet, very few students select fruit as they are going through the lunch line, and if a fruit is picked …
Peas before Pizza: Why Food Order Matters in the Lunch Line
Have you ever been to a buffet and filled your plate on the first few offerings, only to find that your favorite dish is last in line? You’re not the only one! Studies conducted by Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics …