What kids want to eat and why

Some of you who are K–12 operators are receiving a special version of this issue of FoodService Director. Inside it is a bonus section containing the findings of our 2016 School Menu Census as well as other trends and insights specifically for student feeders. (Interested readers who aren’t K–12 directors can find all the articles and information at foodservicedirector.com.)

As part of that special section, we asked the school foodservice members of FSD’s Chef’s Council to share the most surprising things they’ve learned from their young customers. Their answers included how much choice students want to have when it comes to food and experiences, and how adventurous and health-conscious today’s kiddos can be (seriously, all the cool kids apparently are eating quinoa and braised kale).

Hoping to be similarly enlightened, I assembled my own student focus group at home. The panel: my two sons, 7-year-old Kevin (a second grader) and 12-year-old David (a middle schooler in seventh grade). Once I got past the moans and groans from interrupting the TV program they were enjoying, I asked them to tell me, and by extension FSD’s readers, what they like to eat and why, and how they would rate the food they are served at school. Despite not being even a little bit impressed that their names would appear on the pages of a magazine, they shared the following insights. Some key takeaways from my super unscientific survey of two: Choice is everything, visual cues could help sell healthy options, and fruit requirements at breakfast and lunch are a sore spot not only for operators but for students, too.

Related:K-12 Census: Making the effort

Where do you like to eat and why?

Kevin: Mod Pizza, because they let you pick what’s on your food.

David: At a restaurant, because they serve food for you and you can order anything.

What influences the foods you choose?

D: Whatever I see first.

K: I look at the side and see if I’ve tasted it [before] or not. And the cereals show what it is on the box, so I look at which one I want.

How does your school try to get you to eat healthier foods?

D: You can’t get lunch without getting a fruit or vegetable, and you can’t get breakfast without getting a juice. That’s fine, because I usually get carrots and eat the carrots.

K: Sometimes I choose fruit, but most of the time I choose juice because there are better juices I like—fruit punch, apple, orange.

What don’t you like about your school cafeteria?

D: At breakfast, they should let you get water instead of milk or a juice, because I don’t like milk at all and I like water.

What would it take for you to eat healthier foods at school?

K: Making it cantaloupe; I like grapes and watermelon, too.

D: If they were foods I liked and they tasted better ... or if they were [displayed] on something that made them look cool or nice.