Engaging Your Community for New Menu Ideas

If given the choice, we all know that most students would rather eat ice cream than fresh vegetables. Getting students to choose healthy foods in the serving line is one of the challenges that school foodservice directors face today.

In the school cafeteria, there’s a fine art to balancing student preferences with good nutrition, affordable food, quick preparation, and available space and equipment. However, if given the chance, your customers (meaning students, parents, teachers, and staff) can play a significant role in menu planning that includes healthy, tasty foods.

Why get them involved? Well, when you include your customers in part of the menu planning process in your cafeteria, you’ll notice several benefits. Some of which are:

• Customers with a stake in the decision-making process are more likely to support the program and encourage their friends as well.

• Customers who have tested new foods take pride in their contribution and are excited to see “winners” on their trays.

• Customer knowledge will increase about the benefits and challenges of certain foods, sources, and preparation methods. Over time, this knowledge will turn into admiration for a job well done.

Engaging your students, their parents, and staff in your menu planning is easy! Several strategies exist to involve them, including:

• Sponsor a community recipe exchange. Ask families to submit a favorite recipe that meets your criteria for good nutrition and simple preparation, then test likely lunch candidates with cooks and students.

• Attend parent-teacher meetings to survey parent opinion. Ask parents to complete a short survey to identify their top priorities from ethnic and vegetarian dishes to foods with no added sugar or trans fat.

• Ask administrators, teachers, or staff to submit their favorite home-cooked meals. A partnership between foodservice and administrative or teaching staff is a great way to reach out to one customer group in order to impact the entire customer base.

Additional ideas include conducting focus groups to identify new entrees or side dishes, offering taste tests to students in the cafeteria, or contacting a local chef for inspiration and star power.