Ways Students Benefit From Efficient School Lunches

LESS FOOD WASTE

According to a 2019 study by the WWF’s Food Waste Warrior conservation curriculum, schools nationwide waste about 530,000 tons of food per year, which translates to 1.7 billion dollars (FoodWasteWarriors, 2019)! There are a lot of variables concerning why certain foods get tossed, like how some items take longer to eat than others, how different students eat at different paces, or how some foods just aren’t enticing enough to your students. ExpressPoint’s menu insights report can analyze what students love to eat and tend to reject, so you know you’re only buying what works for your district. It means wasting less food, money, and time, which let’s be honest, we ALL could use more of! 

MORE NUTRITIOUS HABITS

It’s unsurprising that when students have more time they eat more. What people may not realize is that they also eat better! Those precious extra minutes don’t just mean getting a second helping of fan favorites like tater tots of square pizzas (of which some of us, like myself, may remember being guilty of). Even if fruits and vegetables aren’t students’ first choice, studies have shown they eat significantly more nutrients when they get the proper chance (ScienceDaily, 2021). Making students feel like lunch can be a satisfying experience can also lead to students participating in lunch programs instead of bringing their own. The CDC reported that some students don’t participate because they don’t have enough time to eat (CDC, 2019). If school lunch lines are maximized, the sooner students can get seated and ready to take on the rest of the day!

IMPROVED ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Lunch may not be a core class, but it does help with academics. Take it from Juliana Cohen, a public health and nutrition professor at Merrimack College and Harvard University’s school of public health (if her title alone doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will). She says healthy dietary habits can “improve executive functioning—working memory, impulse control, everything we think of when we think of making a student successful” (Prothero, 2019). This is where serving flexibility proves essential. Planning breakfast in the classroom? Considering vending machines for post-lunch snacks? Done – ExpressPoint’s flexibility can help schools offer food outside of scheduled cafeteria times. The completely mobile app records meals and grab-and-go items instantly! Like you, we’re not just about nutrition, we’re about options. 

HEALTHIER RELATIONSHIPS WITH FOOD

What people eat and how they view their diet is often impacted by their childhood habits and offerings. The meals students receive every day can easily become their standard and expectation of what healthy items and servings are. That may be especially true for students whose only meals come from school. Therefore, it’s important to consider what it indicates to students when lunch breaks are not prioritized. There’s an underlying message associated with the rush of lunch; they’re internally learning that eating is an inconvenience, a mere interference to productivity. It’s an unfortunate byproduct, but an avoidable one if we work together to improve the speed and flexibility of meal transactions. If we want future generations to prioritize their physical, emotional, and mental health – all of which food plays a huge part of – it’s time to consider implementing positive systems surrounding food now.