School Food Service Research Articles

The Benefits and Challenges of Providing School Meals during the First Year of California's Universal School Meal Policy as Reported by School Foodservice Professionals.

States in the U.S. are newly implementing universal school meal (USM) policies, yet little is known about the facilitators of their success and the challenges they confront. This study evaluated the challenges and facilitators faced by school food authorities (SFAs) implementing California's universal school meal (USM) policy during its inaugural year (2022-2023) using an online survey. In March 2023, 430 SFAs reported many benefits, including increased meal participation (64.2% of SFAs) and revenues (65.7%), reduced meal debt (41.8%) and stigma (30.9%), and improved meal quality (44.3%) and staff salaries (36.9%). Reported challenges include product/ingredient availability (80.9%), staffing shortages (77.0%), vendor/distributor logistics issues (75.9%), and administrative burden (74.9%). Top facilitators included state funding (78.2%) and increased federal reimbursement (77.2%). SFAs with fewer students eligible for free or reduced-price meals (as opposed to SFAs with more) reported greater increases in meal participation and reductions in stigma but also more administrative burdens. Larger SFAs reported greater increases in revenues, staff salaries, and improvements in meal quality than smaller SFAs but also more challenges. Overall, California's USM policy has enhanced student access to healthy meals while mitigating social and financial barriers. Understanding California's experience can inform other jurisdictions considering or implementing similar policies.

Schools' green restaurant assessment (S-GRASS): From validating an instrument to identifying sustainable practices in schools food services

School food services can potentially promote changes in the food system to make it healthier and more sustainable. They can dictate which foods to buy and how to acquire, produce, and distribute them, favoring the production of meals based on sustainable nutrition. The study aimed to obtain an instrument to identify sustainability practices in school food services, covering the five dimensions of sustainable nutrition. The preliminary instrument's version underwent content validation and semantic evaluation. Reliability was assessed by evaluating 23 school food services for interobserver reproducibility and 148 for internal consistency in the Federal District and the State of Mato Grosso (Brazil). The instrument was composed of 76 items divided into 3 sections (1. Water, energy, and gas supply; 2. Menu and food waste; 3. Reduction of waste, construction materials, chemicals, employees and social sustainability). The instrument showed excellent results in content validation, semantic evaluation, and interobserver reproducibility (ICC = 0.949) and reasonable results for internal consistency (KR-20 = 0.660). Evaluating public and private school food services, they showed low sustainability scores in the general instrument (26.93 ± 4.87) and in all 3 sections (1 = 9.97 ± 1.67; 2 = 9.16 ± 2.54; 3 = 7.80 ± 2.39). Section 3 was the one in which school food services performed the worst. Some practices seem consolidated, such as employee attitudes towards reducing water and energy use, recycling cooking oil, offering vegetables and fruits regularly and encouraging diners to reduce waste. Public and private school food services in the Federal District had better results than those in the State of Mato Grosso (31.86 ± 4.63 versus 25.35 ± 3.76). The instrument has strengths, considering its excellent results for content validation, semantic evaluation, and interobserver reproducibility. For internal consistency, the result is believed to reflect the recent topic within school food services. The low performance of school food services points to the need for specific legislation on sustainability, greater planning and investments at the management level, and the execution and recording of activities at the operational level.

Mealtime and food provision environments in primary schools – an opportunity for nutrition intervention?

Mealtime environments and food provision contexts in primary school influence students’ food behaviours(1) and are an opportunity for nutrition intervention(2). This study aims to explore primary school food provision contexts including eating environments and food provision models and policies. A quantitative cross-sectional online survey of Australian primary school teachers undertaken between August 2022-July 2023 collected data about: (1) designated eating times and locations for lunch and snacks; (2) teacher use of mealtimes for food and nutrition education; and(3) presence of food services and food-related policies. Descriptive statistics were generated using Stata 17.0 statistical software. Participants were 239 teachers recruited via social media advertising and education/nutrition networks. The majority of teachers reported their school provided allocated time for children to eat a morning snack (n = 201, 84%) and lunch (n = 234, 98%). Around three quarters of teachers reported an allocated eating time of 10 minutes or less for morning snack (n = 146, 73%) and 15 minutes or less for lunch (n = 174, 74%). Teachers stated lunch was most commonly eaten in the classroom with time to finish in the yard (n = 90, 38%) or in the yard as a group (n = 70, 30%). It was most common for morning snack to be eaten in the classroom (n = 119, 59%). Most teachers stated they had the opportunity to eat lunch with their students at least sometimes (n = 159, 67%). Of these teachers, 31% (n = 50) reported they used this time to teach students about food and nutrition, for example, in a pedagogical lunch. Of 109 teachers who did not use lunch time to teach students about food and nutrition, 43% (n = 69) stated they would be interested in doing this in the future. When asked about the availability of food services at their school, 62% (n = 147) of teachers reported their school had a canteen, 28% (n = 67) reported their school offered lunch orders via an external food outlet and 35% (n = 83) reported their school had a breakfast program. Only 34% of teachers reported their school had policies about the foods available from school food services. From these findings we conclude that a variety of mealtime and food provision contexts exist within Australian primary schools, and that there is opportunity to leverage eating occasions and food provision models and policies for nutrition intervention. This includes the opportunity to utilise mealtimes for delivering food and nutrition education, for example, through the concept of a pedagogical lunch.

Opportunities for Interdisciplinary Research on School Catering

AbstractIn Hungary, about half of the 3–18 age group has regularly used school food service. This paper focuses on the operation and social embeddedness of school canteens and the at-home eating habits of the families involved. My conclusions are based on the findings of my interdisciplinary research group. Ethnographers from the RCH Institute of Ethnology and dietitians from the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition have been studying school food from 2018 to 2023. We selected a few model settlements: in addition to the capital, Budapest, three smaller towns, and two villages. Through questionnaires, interviews, and fieldwork observations, we investigated cooking, serving, meal courses, meal time, eating habits, preferences, as well as the nutritional knowledge of students, teachers, kitchen staff, and parents. Our goal, among other things, is to collect best practices and facilitate communication between participants. Some examples from our research highlight the special role of the centrally regulated school food in local food culture, and difficulties with social and historical roots can occasionally hamper school lunches in becoming a socially accepted model of a healthy diet. The school canteen works best at sites where cooking takes place within the school premises. There is a strong connection between the kitchen staff and the teachers, and they work together in the interest of the children. The value of food and its appreciation is demonstrated by how it is treated and how it is talked about. Communication about food in the canteen should be based on food preparation at home, where parents and children work together. The operation of canteens has become particularly problematic following the measures introduced during the coronavirus pandemic. A sustainable, enjoyable canteen can only be realized through the regular communication of schools and school kitchens, as well as children and their parents. Our findings are presented to our respondents, along with providing them with a comparison of different examples.

Analytic Hierarchy Process approach to estimate weights of menu management in the school foodservice

Analytic Hierarchy Process approach to estimate weights of menu management in the school foodservice

Developing educational videos to inform rightly about school foodservice from kindergarten to high school: a case study

Developing educational videos to inform rightly about school foodservice from kindergarten to high school: a case study

Healthy School Meals for All in Utah.

The National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs reduce food insecurity and improve dietary intake. During the COVID-19 pandemic, school meals were provided to all children at no cost, regardless of income. This policy is known as Healthy School Meals For All (HSMFA). The purpose of the study was to examine the feasibility of a HSMFA policy in Utah. A mixed-methods approach was used, including qualitative interviews for policymakers, surveys for school foodservice directors, and financial modeling of Utah Child Nutrition Programs data. Analysis included a phenomenological analytic approach for qualitative data, descriptive statistics for surveys, and development of a cost model with 6 scenarios. Qualitative data revealed themes of (1) awareness; (2) responsibility; (3) perspectives on school meals; and (4) new opportunities. Most (81%) foodservice directors believed HSMFA should continue post-pandemic. HSMFA would cost $51,341,436 to $82,358,375 per year. HSMFA would result in the equitable treatment of all children regarding access to healthy school meals. Given the support of foodservice directors but the lack of political consensus, considering stepwise implementation and providing cost estimates may increase feasibility of a HSMFA policy in Utah.

Enhancing Culinary Skills of School Foodservice Workers by Chef RDNs Increases Acceptability of Local Foods and Helps to Implement New Nutrition Standards

Enhancing Culinary Skills of School Foodservice Workers by Chef RDNs Increases Acceptability of Local Foods and Helps to Implement New Nutrition Standards

How healthy and affordable are foods and beverages sold in school canteens? A cross-sectional study comparing menus from Victorian primary schools.

Government policy guidance in Victoria, Australia, encourages schools to provide affordable, healthy foods in canteens. This study analysed the healthiness and price of items available in canteens in Victorian primary schools; and associations with school characteristics. Dietitians classified menu items (main, snack, beverage) using the red, amber, green traffic light system defined in the Victorian government's school canteens and other school food services policy. This system also included a black category for confectionary and high sugar content soft drinks which should not be supplied. Descriptive statistics, and regressions were used to analyse differences in the healthiness and price of main meals, snacks and beverages offered, according to school remoteness, sector (government, Catholic/independent), size, and socio-economic position. State of Victoria, Australia. A convenience sample of canteen menus drawn from three previous obesity prevention studies in 48 primary schools between 2016-2019. On average, school canteen menus were 21% 'green' (most healthy - 'everyday'), 53% 'amber' ('select carefully'), 25% 'red' ('occasional') and 2% 'black' (banned) items, demonstrating low adherence with government guidelines. 'Black' items were more common in schools in regional population centres. 'Red' main meal items were cheaper than 'green' (mean difference -$0.48 (95%CI -0.85, -0.10)) and 'amber' -$0.91 (-1.27, -0.57)) main meal items. In ∼50% of schools, the mean price of 'red' main meal, beverages and snack items were cheaper than 'green' items; or no 'green' alternative items were offered. In this sample of Victorian canteen menus, there was no evidence of associations of healthiness and pricing by school characteristics except for regional centres having the highest proportion of 'black' (banned) items compared to all other remoteness categories examined. There was low adherence with state canteen menu guidelines. Many schools offered a high proportion of 'red' food options, and 'black' (banned) options, particularly in regional centres. Unhealthier options were cheaper than healthy options. More needs to be done to bring Victorian primary school canteen menus in line with guidelines.

Mississippi School Food Service Directors' Interest and Experience With Local Food Procurement and Farm to School Activities.

The purpose of this study was to collect updated school food service purchasing practices from K-12 public school food service directors (SFSD) in Mississippi and to determine their current abilities, experiences, and desires to engage in Farm to School (F2S) activities. The online survey was created using questionnaire items from existing F2S surveys. The survey opened in October 2021 and closed in January 2022. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Of the 173 SFSD sent email invitations, 122 (71%) completed the survey. The most common fresh fruit and vegetable purchasing practices included Department of Defense Fresh Program (65%) and produce vendor (64%). Forty-three percent of SFSD purchased at least one locally sourced fruit and 40% purchased at least one locally sourced vegetable, while 46% did not purchase any locally sourced foods. The most common challenges for purchasing from farmers included no relationship with farmers (50%) and food safety regulations (39%). Sixty-four percent of SFSD were interested in at least one F2S activity. Most SFSD do not purchase local foods directly from farmers and almost half do not purchase any local foods regardless of source. Lack of connection with local farmers is a significant challenge to F2S. Recently proposed framework by USDA for shoring up the food supply chain and transforming the food system may help reduce or remove ongoing challenges to F2S participation.

Food Safety Culture from The Perspective of The School Food Service in Malaysia

Foodborne illness outbreaks associated with food produce suggest a focus on food safety culture within food safety management systems throughout food supply chains would benefit the school food service industry. The recent presence of food safety culture in food hygiene standards will drive the need for better understanding, integration into business activities, and monitoring, to help ease foodborne incidents in school food service industry. The purpose of this review was to identify definitions of food safety culture and methods of measuring its performance in the context of the Malaysia school food service industry. Investigation of how to better apply and integrate a positive food safety culture into existing food safety management systems was conducted. A roadmap for food safety culture improvement in Malaysia school food service is presented, highlighting the challenges and opportunities. Food safety culture can be developed by using feedback from regular culture assessments that identify weaknesses and opportunities for improvement, leading to increased knowledge, alignment of attitudes, and better food safety and hygiene behavior. Overall, the development of measurement tools specific to school food service operations would be beneficial. Despite unpredicted challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Malaysia school food service industry continues to investigate the effectiveness of its food safety management.

단체급식서비스 공간 계획 요소에 대한 건축가와 급식 관리자의 중요도 인식 비교 : 학교와 산업체 급식소를 중심으로

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to derive important space planning elements through a comparison of perceptions of importance between foodservice facility managers and architects, and to present a design guideline that architects can use in remodeling or new construction. Method: For the research, the questionnaire was made based on the feedback from precedent research and preliminary surveys, and consisted of 4 major categories (architecture, indoor environment, sensibility, and convenience factors) and 23 sub-elements. A survey was conducted via e-mail to architects working in Korea and managers at schools and institutional foodservice facilities in the Yeongnam region. A total of 180 questionnaires were distributed, and 155 questionnaires out of 160 collected were used for analysis. Result: As a result of analysis, all three groups considered three elements of architectural factors (circulation, location and layout) and two elements of indoor environmental factors (Ventilation &Humidity control and Air conditioning & Heating system) as the most important ones. In particular, school foodservice managers recognized that two elements of indoor environmental factors (‘noise prevention and ‘size/ place/design of window’) and one of convenience factor (‘reasonable table configuration’) were relatively important to improve comfort in high-density school foodservice spaces. On the other hand, Institutional foodservice managers recognized that elements(‘Accessibility to the subsidiary space’ and ‘Inducing natural access from the outside to the inside through various entry types’) are relatively important to improve customer accessibility and convenience. Based on the research results, basic design guidelines that architects can use are proposed.

지체장애 특수학교 급식의 학생 식생활 개선 전략 분석

This study analyzes diet improvement strategies for students enrolled in special schools for the physically disabled. Six special schools for physical disabilities at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education were selected for the study. An electronic survey was conducted from November 14 to November 27, 2022, enrolling 107 special school teachers and 227 parents as study subjects. The questionnaire for special school teachers comprised 32 questions related to demographic information of the teachers, workplace information, and diet improvement strategies for students in special schools for the physically disabled. The questionnaire for parents consisted of 36 questions related to the demographic information of parents and students, characteristics of the student’s disability, and diet improvement strategies for students enrolled in special schools. Diet improvement strategies were alphanumeric coded according to the ICF-CY coding guidelines, and frequency analysis and independent samples t-test were conducted for statistical analysis. The significance level of the statistics was 0.05, as determined by a two-tailed test. Results of this study indicate that it is possible to identify diet improvement strategies that can be applied preferentially to meals at special schools for the physically disabled. This is the first study that applied the ICF-CY Framework to school food services and coded the diet improvement strategies for students in special schools into an alphanumeric coding system. This study is meaningful since it provides information expressed in a standardized common language that can be applied in various fields related to the health of students with physical disabilities as well as school meals. These results could also find an application as basic data for the diet of people with brain lesions such as cerebral palsy, and the management and policy of food services for other disabilities.

Impacts of Covid-19 School Closures on School Food Service Revenue: Analysis of Public Local Education Agencies in Maryland.

The public health policies and school closures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have created disruptions in school meal programs. Research is needed to understand the changes in school food service revenue before and during the initial Covid-19-related school shutdowns. A longitudinal cohort study examining federal and state reimbursements as well as sales revenues for all public local education agencies (LEAs) in Maryland from school years (SY) 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 was conducted. Monthly changes in federal and state reimbursements for Child Nutrition Programs, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) were examined. In the SY 2018-2019, the total revenues from federal and state reimbursements for SBP, NSLP, SFSP, and at-risk CACFP were $272.9million; in comparison, for the SY 2019-2020, the total revenues were $241.8million (11.4% reduction from SY 2018-2019). On average, the school shutdown (during March to June 2020) was associated with a $450,385 (p-value < .01) reduction in federal and state reimbursements per LEA-month (41% reduction). The school shutdown during the Covid-19 pandemic was associated with a statistically significant reduction in school food service revenues across Maryland's public LEAs.

Mississippi Small Farm Product Amounts, Seasonality, and Proximity to K-12 Public Schools.

The study's purpose was to determine small farm product amounts and seasonality and examine spatial relationships between small farms and K-12 public schools in Mississippi. Online survey participation invitations were sent via email to farmers and school food service directors from October 2021 to January 2022. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics and proximities between farms (n = 29) and schools (n = 122) determined using spatial analysis. Median yearly amounts for both fresh fruits and vegetables ranged from 1-50 to 201-500 pounds while other product amounts ranged from 1-50 to >1000 pounds. Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and other product seasonality ranged from 1 to 6 months, 1 to 12 months, and 3 to 12 months, respectively. In total, 8 out of 12 fresh fruits, 24 out of 25 fresh vegetables, and all other products were harvested during the academic school year. Fifty percent of the schools were within a 20-mile radius of at least one small farm, while 98% were within a 50-mile radius. While many product amounts were small (1-50 pounds), most were harvested during the school year and in close proximity to at least one school. Contracting directly with farmers may be more attractive to school food authorities given current supply chain disruptions and decreasing product availability for school meal programs.

Implementation of Flexibilities to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and Their Impact on Schools in Missouri.

In 2018, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued flexibilities to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, relaxing the nutrition standards for milk, whole grains, and sodium. This study examines the implementation decision-making among Missouri school food services and the impact of implementing these flexibilities on the meals served. We developed a survey using the Consolidated Framework of Implementation to determine schools' implementation of the flexibilities and factors related to implementation. To determine how the implementation of flexibilities affected participation, we merged the survey results with school-level meal county data from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. We used ordinary least squares regression to examine how flexibility adoption related to the number of meals served. Most schools implemented the wheat, milk, and sodium flexibilities. Common reasons for implementation were increasing participation, meeting students' preferences, expanding menu variety, and saving money. The implementation of flexibilities was associated with more lunches and breakfasts being served per month, particularly among free and reduced-price meals. Continued research is needed to determine how the increased uptake of school meals that do not fully meet dietary guidelines by low-income students results in inequities in health outcomes. The findings can inform the design and implementation of future policies, especially as new rules related to flexibility design are determined.

Causal relationship among quality factors, emotional responses, and satisfaction of school food service in Henan province, China.

School food service has played an important role in promoting the health and physical condition of students by providing students with a balanced and nutritious diet. Therefore, boosting the quality of school food service and improving the students' satisfaction is critical. For this purpose, this study examined the structural causal relationship among the quality of school food service factors, emotional responses, and satisfaction in China. This study was conducted with 4th-6th-grade students from 6 junior high schools in Henan province of China, with 590 questionnaire responses (87.3%) collected and statistically analyzed. The school food service quality factors (including menu management, dietary education, facilities management, price and food distribution management, and personal hygiene during meals) must be enhanced to boost the students' satisfaction. In addition, the study used questionnaire survey data to validate the full mediation of students' emotional responses between school food service quality factors and student satisfaction. Students' emotions also play an important role in influencing the quality of school food service, all of which affect the emotional responses of students. Therefore, students' positive emotions are an important indicator for improving the quality of school food service. A national support policy is necessary for the ongoing maintenance and development of various programs that drive students' satisfaction and promote the adoption of education guidelines for school food service in China.

An educational needs analysis of precautions against of safety accidents for school foodservice employees in the Jeonbuk area using Borich priority formula and the Locus for Focus Model

An educational needs analysis of precautions against of safety accidents for school foodservice employees in the Jeonbuk area using Borich priority formula and the Locus for Focus Model

Sustainable and Nutritional Recommendations for the Development of Menus by School Food Services in Spain.

Recommendations for the development of school menus can promote healthier, more sustainable food systems. In Spain, these recommendations depend on regional governments (Autonomous Communities-CCAAs) that develop their own guides. The objective of this study was to explore the nutritional and sustainability recommendations for the development of menus by school food services in Spain. Guides were reviewed that were available on the official web pages of the councils of health and education. Twenty-four variables were studied and organized into three categories: characteristics, nutritional recommendations and sustainability. The number of recommendations included in each guide was counted. The weekly frequency of the suggested food provision for each food group was calculated, as was the average, median, standard deviation, confidence interval and interquartile index. Overall, 13 guides were reviewed from different CCAAs. All of them included at least three of the nutritional recommendations, two suggested restrictions in the provision of foods with high quantities of salt and six suggested restrictions in foods with high levels of trans and saturated fats and sugars. All except one guide recommended the weekly provision of foods by food group: protein-rich foods (n = 8), cereals and root vegetables (n = 6), vegetables (n = 5.2) and fruit (n = 4.3). Of the eight criteria for sustainability studied, nine guides included one or none. Guides for the provision of meals at school in Spain promote the incorporation of healthy foods; however, they rarely restrict foods with high levels of fat, salt and sugar, and the promotion of food sustainability is only just beginning. These guides should be reviewed and updated to include recommendations that promote healthy and sustainable food systems.

Review of Food Safety Violations: Urban School Foodservice

In the United States over 29 million elementary and high school students, a potentially higher risk population, consume school lunches each day, and the need for proper food safety is paramount. Though numerous interventions have been implemented in school foodservice, foodborne illness continues to be an issue in the United States. Ultimately, an understanding of recurring food safety violations would inform development of targeted food safety training interventions that could mitigate the number of foodborne illness outbreaks. The aim of this study was to analyze food safety violation trends from 2010 to 2019 in a large urban school system to explore research and educational opportunities. Over 20% of food safety inspections resulted in failure; 9.0% of all violations were critical, 11.9% were serious, and 79.1% were minor. These findings underscore the need to reevaluate current food safety educational interventions and food safety handling practices. Key critical and serious violation trends were lack of food safety knowledge, lack of temperature controls throughout the food preparation process, and lack of appropriate supplies. Recurring minor violations pertained to cleanliness of the facility (ventilation, flooring,