The Efficacy and Cost-Effectiveness of Replacing Whole Apples with Sliced in the National School Lunch Program

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) serves 29.6 million lunches each day. Schools must offer ½ a cup of fruit for each lunch tray. Much of this fruit may be wasted, leaving the schools in a dilemma. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the consumption of whole vs. sliced apples and determine the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. Researchers weighed apple waste at baseline and three post-intervention time points in one rural Midwest school. The costs of the intervention were collected from the school. The cost-effectiveness analysis estimates how often apples need to be served to offset the costs of the slicing intervention. A total of (n = 313) elementary student students participated. Students consumed significantly more sliced as compared to whole apples in intervention months 3 (β = 21.5, p < 0.001) and 4 (β = 27.7, p < 0.001). The intervention cost was USD 299. The value of wasted apple decreased from USD 0.26 at baseline to USD 0.23 wasted at post-intervention. The school would need to serve 9403 apples during the school year (54 times) to cover the expenses of the intervention. In conclusion, serving sliced apples may be a cost-effective way to improve fruit consumption during school lunch.

Evaluation of the National School Lunch Program at a Public Charter School in Duval County, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is the second largest meal program in the United States, operating in Elementary, Secondary and not for profit private schools. The goals and objectives of the NSLP is to provide free, healthy, nutritious and balanced meals to students each school day so they can develop into healthy adults. This study sought to assess whether the goals and objectives of the NSLP were being met. A mixed method with a convergent design was employed with a sample of 30 students and 2 staff. Findings revealed that majority of students believed that meals served are healthy, nutritious and balanced and are served timely. Majority of the respondents indicated that staff and servers in the school cafeteria are friendly and accommodating. It can be deduced from the findings that the school met the objectives of the program to a great extent but there is room for improvement since there are students who were served with nutritional foods but still did not consume portions of it. It is therefore recommended that the school incorporate healthy eating habits in the school’s curriculum including health education and promotions, which can help to boost consumption and increase the nutritional intake of vital nutrients in students.

Sensory Evaluation of Plant-Based Protein Entrees for the National School Lunch Program

Objectives To assess the acceptability of two newly developed plant-based protein entrees to be served in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) among middle school students in the state of Georgia. Methods Two newly developed plant-based entrees (sweet potato chili fries, lentil-based sloppy joes) were introduced at lunch and sensory evaluation was conducted using a nine-point hedonic scale were used to evaluate overall liking (OL) and specific sensory attributes (appearance, flavor, texture) of lunch entrees immediately following lunch. Recipe formulations were designed to meet NSLP standards, to address the recent popularity of plant-based meat alternatives, and to incorporate the flavor preferences of student populations. Sensory evaluation of both plant-based entrees and all other entrees sold at lunch or brought from home were assessed. Results A total of 964 sensory evaluations were collected from middle school students in grades 6–8 in the Jackson County School District in Jefferson, Georgia. The plant-based entrees had a mean OL = 2.43, appearance = 3.00, texture = 3.58, flavor = 2.63. The regular hotline entrees had a mean OL = 5.66, appearance = 5.21, texture = 5.16, flavor = 5.75. A la carte entrees had a mean OL = 6.07, appearance = 5.65, texture = 5.64, flavor = 5.95. Entrees brought from home had a mean OL = 8.14, appearance = 7.82, texture = 7.84, flavor = 8.19. Regressions and t-tests were used to determine significant differences in waste using the statistical software Stata. Conclusions Little research has been conducted utilizing sensory evaluation to determine student liking of plant-based entrees. Plant-based entrees were liked least out of all entrees offered at school or brought from home. Sensory evaluation may be utilized to develop healthy school meals, ensure recipes are responsive to the taste preferences of children and profitable on the school lunch menu. Funding Sources Jackson County School District, Georgia Department of Education.

The Effect of the Community Eligibility Provision on the Ability of Free and Reduced-Price Meal Data to Identify Disadvantaged Students

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a policy change to the federally administered National School Lunch Program that allows schools serving low-income populations to classify all students as eligible for free meals, regardless of individual circumstances. This has implications for the use of free and reduced-price meal (FRM) data to proxy for student disadvantage in education research and policy applications, which is a common practice. We document empirically how the CEP has affected the value of FRM eligibility as a proxy for student disadvantage. At the individual student level, we show that there is essentially no effect of the CEP. However, the CEP does meaningfully change the information conveyed by the share of FRM-eligible students in a school. It is this latter measure that is most relevant for policy uses of FRM data.