What would you like to eat?
Boston, Massachusetts, schools, in tandem with a professionally trained chefs, have proven what we all already knew–the better you make healthy food taste, the more likely
children will eat it.
"The results highlight the importance of focusing on the palatability of school meals. Partnerships with chefs can lead to substantial improvements in the quality of school meals and can be an economically feasible option for schools," said lead author Juliana Cohen, research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan. "Additionally, this study shows that schools should not abandon healthier foods if they are initially met with resistance by students."
[Emphasis added.]
Also studied was the impact that the environment's architecture had on healthy food consumption.
The researchers conducted a school-based randomized clinical trial during the 2011-2012 school year among 14 elementary and middle schools in two urban, low-income school districts in Massachusetts. Included in the study were 2,638 students in grades three through eight. The schools were randomly assigned to receive weekly training and recipe design from a professionally trained chef; some received choice architecture techniques (referred to as "smart café"); some received both; and the rest (control schools) received no intervention.
After three months there was a noticeable rise in vegetable selection by students in the school cafeteria's experiencing chef intervention. After seven months, the differences were considerable (20 percent more fruit consumption and 30 percent more vegetable consumption).
"Our study was not testing whether a local celebrity chef was good for the school lunch program. Our goal was to have a chef who could work with the whole school district to train personnel and to design more palatable recipes without increasing the cost of the meal. It was a great success and really illustrated that through persistence school-aged children can learn to like healthy whole grains, fruits, and vegetables especially if they taste good. In the end, the quality and taste of the food was much more impactful on consumption than were the effects of choice architecture," said senior author Eric Rimm, professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard Chan. "Schools should therefore put more effort into improving the palatability of school meals for the biggest impact on students' diets. Additionally, schools may want to consider policies that eliminate chocolate milk as choice architecture was not an effective strategy to improve white milk selection."
Instead of trying to privatize our education, with the motivation deteriorating into how schools can make money, conservatives and egomaniacal CEOS should think of children as a true R&D investment. It'll pay off in the long run. They may like you and the world you've created for them.