Factors School Foodservice Directors Consider When Allocating Resources

Abstract

The extent school foodservice directors make resource allocation decisions based on a natural resource perspective and the identification of future issues predicted to impact operational decisions were investigated. A questionnaire was developed based on telephone interviews using a convenience sample of nine school foodservice directors representing all regions of the country. The questionnaire was pilot tested for format and content validity. School foodservice directors (n=392) employed in districts with enrollments over 40,000 or city populations over 200,000 were surveyed to identify factors they considered when allocating resources. A reminder postcard and follow-up letter were mailed to directors two weeks and one month after the initial mailing, respectively. The response rate for individual respondents and response rate for major city districts were 45.53% and 77.98%, respectively. Operational factors such as age of equipment, state regulations, and student preferences were significantly (P⩽.05) more important than environmental factors such as water quality or solid waste when directors made resource allocation decisions. Less than 20.00% of districts had specific water, energy, or solid waste policies. Respondents rated food safety and availability of qualified employees as the most important challenges in the next five years. Respondents also ranked labor, food safety, and enrollment growth as the most important factors in the next five years. Importance ratings of issues indicated that respondents were aware of the potential impact of environmental issues. A natural resource perspective was not applied to the majority of current resource allocation decisions. Natural resource-based perspectives are applicable to school foodservice operational decisions, but their implementation is a function of a district's unique set of environmental characteristics.