Factors affecting fruit and vegetable school lunch waste in Wisconsin elementary schools participating in Farm to School programmes
- PMID: 25728060
- PMCID: PMC10271538
- DOI: 10.1017/S1368980015000385
Factors affecting fruit and vegetable school lunch waste in Wisconsin elementary schools participating in Farm to School programmes
Abstract
Objective: To examine characteristics potentially associated with school lunch fruit and vegetable waste, both overall and pre/post implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
Design: Multi-year (2010-2013) cross-sectional study using pre- and post-meal digital photographs of students' school lunch trays to estimate fruit and vegetable availability and consumption. Fruit and vegetable items were categorized for factors suspected to impact waste: prior farm to school years, placement (main menu, salad bar), procurement (local, conventional), preparation (cooked, raw) and meal component (entrée, side, topping). Analyses to assess within-category differences in waste volume were performed using a Tobit model.
Setting: Wisconsin elementary schools participating in farm to school programmes, USA.
Subjects: Children in third to fifth grade.
Results: Many within-factor differences were detected overall and/or across time. Cooked fruits were wasted less than raw, while cooked vegetables were wasted more than raw. Where identified, locally sourced items were wasted more than conventionally sourced (+0·1 cups, P<0·0001) and salad bar items more than main menu items (+0·01 cups, P<0·0001). Increasing prior farm to school years decreased waste (-0·02 cups, P<0·0001). Items previously tried were wasted at the same volume whether reported as liked or not. New school lunch meal pattern requirement implementation did not uniformly impact fruit and vegetable waste across all categories and there was no change in waste for seven of fifteen assessed categories.
Conclusions: Many factors impact elementary students' school lunch waste. These factors may be helpful for school food-service authorities to consider when planning school menus.
Keywords: Food waste; Fruits and vegetables; School lunch.
Similar articles
-
Food choice, plate waste and nutrient intake of elementary- and middle-school students participating in the US National School Lunch Program.Public Health Nutr. 2014 Jun;17(6):1255-63. doi: 10.1017/S1368980013001894. Epub 2013 Jul 18. Public Health Nutr. 2014. PMID: 23866827 Free PMC article.
-
Younger Elementary School Students Waste More School Lunch Foods than Older Elementary School Students.J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017 Jan;117(1):95-101. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2016.08.005. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017. PMID: 27637576 Free PMC article.
-
Location of School Lunch Salad Bars and Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Middle Schools: A Cross-Sectional Plate Waste Study.J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016 Mar;116(3):407-416. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2015.10.011. Epub 2015 Nov 26. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016. PMID: 26625970
-
Food Waste in the National School Lunch Program 1978-2015: A Systematic Review.J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017 Nov;117(11):1792-1807. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2017.06.008. Epub 2017 Aug 12. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017. PMID: 28807638 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Policy, Systems, and Environmental Changes in Child Nutrition Programs: A Systematic Literature Review.Adv Nutr. 2024 Jan;15(1):100116. doi: 10.1016/j.advnut.2023.09.004. Epub 2023 Sep 15. Adv Nutr. 2024. PMID: 37716534 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Food Trying and Liking Related to Grade Level and Meal Participation.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Aug 5;17(16):5641. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17165641. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020. PMID: 32764314 Free PMC article.
-
Food Waste on Foodservice: An Overview through the Perspective of Sustainable Dimensions.Foods. 2021 May 24;10(6):1175. doi: 10.3390/foods10061175. Foods. 2021. PMID: 34073708 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Measuring Food Waste and Consumption by Children Using Photography.Nutrients. 2019 Oct 9;11(10):2410. doi: 10.3390/nu11102410. Nutrients. 2019. PMID: 31600938 Free PMC article.
-
Strategies to Improve School Meal Consumption: A Systematic Review.Nutrients. 2021 Oct 7;13(10):3520. doi: 10.3390/nu13103520. Nutrients. 2021. PMID: 34684521 Free PMC article.
-
Factors Related to Fruit and Vegetable Consumption at Lunch Among Elementary Students: A Scoping Review.Prev Chronic Dis. 2018 May 10;15:E55. doi: 10.5888/pcd15.170373. Prev Chronic Dis. 2018. PMID: 29752802 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR et al.. (2010) Prevalence of high body mass index in US children and adolescents, 2007–2008. JAMA 303, 242–249. - PubMed
-
- Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK et al.. (2012) Prevalence of Obesity in the United States, 2009–2010. NCHS Data Brief no. 82. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db82.pdf (accessed December 2014). - PubMed
-
- Finkelstein EA & Strombotne KL (2010) The economics of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr 91, issue 5, 1520S–1524S. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources