If you’re already hungry when you’re choosing your lunch, how much harder is it for you to choose a healthy option? As adults, we constantly hear that grocery shopping or choosing food when we are already hungry is a recipe for unhealthy eating, so it is really surprising that kids react to food choices in the same way? In fact, studies have shown that when kids pre-order their lunches online, almost 30 percent of them will choose a healthier lunch option on their own. This is as opposed to just 15 percent when they need to make a choice in the line.
What does this tell us? That by encouraging students to pre-order their lunches, we don’t just reduce waste, control costs, and enable our cafeteria to plan ahead, we also foster healthier eating habits in kids.
Keep your cafeteria waste-free
There are several reasons to push for pre-ordering lunches:
● Reduce waste by giving the staff a realistic idea of how much of each choice to prepare
● Control costs by helping students know when they are choosing items that will result in extra charges on their accounts
When a cafeteria is cooking the right amount of food, keeping budgets in line with goals and expectations, and serving their kids well, everyone is happy! Pre-ordering can help make that happen.
Encourage better financial management
While pre-ordering definitely helps control the waste aspect of a cafeteria, it can also benefit the financial side of the equation for both kids and schools.
● Pre-ordering can prompt parents to keep their child’s lunch account balance positive
● Students receiving free or reduced-price lunches can see when they’re making choices that will incur charges
Keep the line running smoothly
Kids don’t get a lot of time to eat lunch in most schools. When they pre-order their meals, they will move through the line more quickly: they’ve already made their choices and paid for their meal. Kids get to spend their lunch time eating, instead of waiting to eat.
Pre-ordering can be incorporated in your district through a variety of methods: paper, mobile devices, or classroom engagement are a few of the possibilities. Whatever method is easiest for your school, when you help kids make lunch choices before they’re so hungry they can’t think, they’ll make better choices. Pre-ordering is a step for greater physical and financial health for the entire institution.