Will broccoli by any other name be more likely to wind up in students’ tummies than in lunchroom garbage cans? Does strategic placement of fruit on the cafeteria line increase its appeal to finicky kids?
Nutrition education
Food presentation techniques, which can significantly influence children’s selections, will be components of the U. of I. Extension’s school lunchroom initiative. The program, which Extension began rolling out at Illinois schools in January, is funded with a $4.5 million grant from the USDA.
Recent research indicates these and other little modifications can make a big difference in what schoolchildren choose to put on their lunch trays and what ends up in the trash.
A $4.5 million program led by University of Illinois Extension that kicked off in January will teach school food-service managers and staff members these and other techniques for promoting healthy eating – and reducing food waste – among their students.
The program promotes the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement, which supports healthy eating at the nation’s schools by applying the behavioral economics principles that grocery stores and restaurants use to boost food sales among their customers.
A grassroots initiative, the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement is based upon consumer behavior research that was pioneered at Illinois by food and brand researcher Brian Wansink, currently at Cornell University.
“Marketers use these strategies all the time in the grocery store, and we’re applying the same techniques to help students choose healthier options at school,” said Jennifer McCaffrey, assistant dean for family and consumer sciences, who is leading the initiative with Extension educator Whitney Ajie. “We’ll be working with food-service staff on what we call ‘lunchroom makeovers.’ Where is the food placed? How does it look? What foods do people encounter first that make eating healthy an easier choice?”
Simply renaming foods and finding appealing ways to present dishes can significantly influence diners’ selections, McCaffrey said, so Extension is helping food-service staff members think about new ways to offer food, such as allowing students to sample food items before dishing out an entire serving.
Because children are highly influenced by adult attitudes and behavior toward food, school administrators, teachers and food-service staff members are encouraged to serve as positive role models for healthy eating and to find innovative, fun ways to present fruits, vegetables and new food selections to kids. The program also suggests ways that schools can communicate with parents about promoting healthy behaviors at home.
Funded by the Illinois State Board of Education, the Extension initiative is part of a growing trend among schools to create school cultures that support good nutrition and limit the availability of junk food, Ajie said.
Extension and ISBE will foster networking and mentoring relationships among school food-service personnel statewide, building upon the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Team Up for School Nutrition Success program, which provides peer-to-peer mentoring and tailored technical assistance on topics such as menu planning, youth engagement and meal presentation.
U. of I. Extension has a long history of working with Illinois schools on nutrition education, and the ISBE grant enables Extension to expand its work with food-service personnel, adding webinars and online modules that make the training more accessible to employees of cash-strapped, time-crunched schools.
“Food-service managers and directors tell us their staff members need more training but finding time to train them is difficult,” Ajie said.
Extension’s online modules, which enable users to earn continuing education credits and work at their own pace, will cover topics such as the impact that holding recess before lunch has on children’s dietary behaviors, nutrition and food safety, and sources of grant funding for school dining programs.
Schools nationwide are encouraged to promote healthy eating in accordance with revised dietary guidelines from the USDA, which placed tighter restrictions on sodium levels and the caloric content of food served to schoolchildren along with promoting increased consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
“Food-service staff are up against a huge challenge to provide appealing, tasty food on a very limited budget,” McCaffrey said. “We’re very mindful of the situation that they’re in, so we’re giving them ideas and solutions that are both feasible and effective.”
