A food-systems consultant and designer advises school districts that want prosperous food service programs to adopt big-business methods. Successful commercial operations hire top food-service consultants and designers to get the most from their space, equipment, and labor. Commercial enterprises are concerned with efficient utilization of plant…

The school lunch program has not responded to national needs: the greater the need of the child from a poor neighborhood, the less the community is able to meet it. Of about eight million children whose families cannot afford the cost of a school meal, three million receive a lunch free or at reduced cost; of the five million denied reasonable…

A national survey was made among those people apt to be influential in promoting appropriate legislation for school food service programs and those who might be involved in decisionmaking about such programs. Questionnaire responses from a wide geographic sample clearly delineate that one major responsibility of school food service members should…

Eleven graphs present information on status and trends in Alaska in terms of number of public high school graduates, statewide enrollment, expenditures per pupil, local assistance, pupil-staff ratio, transportation, rural school enrollment, correspondence study, school lunch programs, average salaries of professional school personnel, and…

Among the 10 megatrends that will affect school food service in the future are population changes; computerized and automated kitchens; cost increases; school districts contracting to serve other community groups; fewer federal government controls; and higher teacher salaries, forcing changes in how students are taught. (MLF)

Changing the National School Lunch Program to eliminate funding to the full-price meal would affect the entire program, leading to a drastic increase in the price of these meals, a decrease in program participants, and a loss of the health emphasis of the program. (MLF)

The No Child Left Behind Amendment (NCLBA ) established new safeguards about the use of student data for marketing or selling purposes. Specifically, NCLBA amended the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) of 1994 addressing pupil privacy by requiring school districts to develop a policy on the collection, disclosure, and use of personal…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, 1998?1999 Kindergarten Cohort, the study examines two research questions: What are the effects of participation in the National School Lunch Program on changes in children?s behavior, test scores, and body weight? Do these effects differ by gender? To address issues of selection, we use…

This report describes research that Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) has conducted for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), to develop methods to track the use of "competitive foods" in schools over time. Competitive foods are foods from a la carte cafeteria sales, vending machines, school stores,…

A food fest held at a local community settlement house and sponsored by the county Extended Food and Nutrition Education Program, showed that community cooperation in nutrition education improves communication and helps reach a wider audience. (JB)

A method for using routinely collected data from large management information systems for program development is described. The example of school lunch participation illustrates the use of time series data to explore causes for observed changes in performance at the various project sites where a program is being carried out. (PN)

Here's a simple, effective, school-based nutrition program from Oakham Center Elementary School, plus activities, a play, a quiz, a worksheet, and a resource list. (Editor/SJL)

Federal legislation established nutrition and social welfare programs for the elderly. In order to determine the patterns of life of the elderly, a survey was done of those who participated in a nutrition program in 20 rural areas in Missouri. Data indicated a need for nutrition and consumer education which focuses on the elderly and declining…

School food-service programs, endangered by rising costs, would benefit by taking the following steps: (1) improve food quality and presentation; (2) renovate the appearance of cafeterias; (3) enlist cafeteria personnel in reforms and include profit sharing; (4) update management procedures; and (5) cut bureaucracy. (MLF)