The Smarter Lunchroom Keen on Placement

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Improved Visibility Encourages Better Eating Habits

By Jeanne Hopkins, Director of Food Service, School District of Superior

Fresh vegetables presented in an attractive manner encourage children to "do the right thing."

Fresh vegetables presented in an attractive manner encourage children to “do the right thing.”

Healthy food is often overlooked because it is in places that are hard to see and reach, such as hidden under a sneeze shield in a drab metal bin.

Kathy Pendergast

Kathy Pendergast

Who knows this better than Kathy Pendergast and Deb Schwartz at Northern Lights Elementary School. They both do a great job of making fresh vegetables appealing for kids, and kids in turn do a great job at NLE of choosing a fresh vegetable option for lunch.

Kathy and Deb  spend a fair amount of time every morning  making the fresh vegetable choices easy for the kids to choose by putting them into kid-friendly serving cups such as those shown in the photos.

Deb Schwartz

Deb Schwartz

The kids feel the satisfaction of self-service on the lunch line and the staff know the kids are getting the required one half cup portion of a fresh fruit or vegetable with their lunch.

Kathy and Deb work very hard, along with the rest of the NLE Food Service Staff to put these fresh choices at eye level for the students. Making them easy to select and very eye appealing is a sure-fire way to get kids to try their vegetables. You remember that old saying, “Try it, you’ll like it!”

Another principle of the Smarter Lunchroom idea is to  increase fruit and vegetable selections by making it available on at least two occasions along the lunch line. We do this by either repeating options or by offering two or more options  in different places. If at first they don’t select it, we try, try again!

Sometimes it’s just a matter of making it easier for our children to make the right choices!




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