Students will choose healthier lunch options, a new study from the University of Minnesota has found. In addition, those more nutritious meals do not necessarily cost more to produce.
According to Ben Senauer, professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota and coauthor of the study, when data from 330 Minnesota school districts was analyzed, sales did not decline in schools that served more nutritious meals. The study also showed that the cost per meal did not increase when healthier portions were offered. Labor costs are highest with healthier meals; however, they are lower than purchasing processed foods.
"There is the perception that school lunches are the problem to childhood obesity and not the solution," Senauer says. "There have been enormous improvements in the quality and healthiness in the school lunches being served now."
The study looked only at meals provided under the National School Lunch Program and do not include a la carte items.
Excerpt from FoodService Director Magazine's January 15, 2008 article, "Students Will Buy Healthy, Study Says." Reprinted with permission of Ideal Media, LLC.
