11/17/2017. Cafeteria Reinvention Small Changes that Make a Big Difference. It s Not Nutrition Until It s Eaten

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Cafeteria Reinvention Small Changes that Make a Big Difference It s Not Nutrition Until It s Eaten Jason Kirchhofer,

miles School district is 1900 students Six Schools 3 Elementary Schools 1 High School 1 Junior High I Intermediate

Smarter Lunchrooms Movement applies research-based principles that lead children to make healthy choices when provided

1 Cafeteria Reinvention Small Changes that Make a Big Difference It s Not Nutrition Until It s Eaten Jason Kirchhofer, FSD Brown County Schools Nashville, IN Brown County is 316 sq. miles School district is 1900 students Six Schools 3 Elementary Schools 1 High School 1 Junior High I Intermediate School Smarter Lunchroom When students are nudged towards selecting and eating nutritious foods. Smarter Lunchrooms Movement applies research-based principles that lead children to make healthy choices when provided with the full spectrum of choice. The Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (B.E.N. Center) applies research from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab to school lunchrooms. 1

Food for thought Increase 100% Moving fruit from stainless steel tray to a colorful fruit bowls or trays can double sales Increase 70% Offering sliced fruit can increase student consumption.

2 Food for thought Increase 100% Moving fruit from stainless steel tray to a colorful fruit bowls or trays can double sales Increase 70% Offering sliced fruit can increase student consumption. Increase 70% Suggesting students tale a fruit can increase the number of students eating fruit. Increase 40% Offering vegetables in two locations can result in students taking more. What issues impact changes in School Lunch? Rising obesity rates (BMI) Many blame school lunches USDA Nutrition standards Increases food cost Decrease in participation (loss revenue) Food waste USDA: found that 60% of schools observe more waste in terms of salad/raw vegetables and cooked veggies after implementation of nutrition standards Require milk to be fat-free The Challenge: The School Lunch Challenge Improve nutritional content of meals Maintain low cost Maintain participation Encourage longer-term healthy decisions Decreased waste 2

What does this mean for me? Help Balance the Equation!

choices in front of less healthy options Move healthier

Food for Thought Pressure to improve the nutrition of

balance revenue and cost I ll stop buying We are going to

3 What does this mean for me? Help Balance the Equation! The School Lunch Challenge Placement: place healthier choices in front of less healthy options Move healthier choices within reach but still keep your a la cart items Food for Thought Pressure to improve the nutrition of meals Pressure to keep participation up Pressure to balance revenue and cost I ll stop buying We are going to stop offering chocolate milk I ll drink 3 glasses of chocolate milk when I get home 3

access economic decision-making Generally,

4 Choice Architecture Choice architecture Designing the choice to lead an individual to a particular outcome without forcing them Uses the tools of psychology to access economic decision-making Generally, adjusting the choice architecture is cheap Big bang for the buck How Behavioral Economics Helps: Economics & Psychology Reactance Rebelling against a threat to freedom Limits on ketchup Don t press this button Attribution It was my choice, I will repeat it in the future Choosing between celery and carrots 4

What We Know About Food Decisions We have two decisionmaking mechanisms Deliberative Rational

available Stress or distraction leads us to eat more and eat worse It takes effort and resources

exception We buy Bigger More hedonistic What Does This Mean for Kids?

Kids have not fully developed their rational system Very little understanding of long term

5 What We Know About Food Decisions We have two decisionmaking mechanisms Deliberative Rational Emotional Naïve, kneejerk reactions Which takes over depends on the level of cognitive resources available Stress or distraction leads us to eat more and eat worse It takes effort and resources to resist temptation Cold State We consider Prices Health information Logic We buy Smaller portions Moderate foods Hot vs. Cold Decisions Hot State We eat for Taste Convenience Size Visual effect This decision is an exception We buy Bigger More hedonistic What Does This Mean for Kids? Ever wonder why kids food is generally less healthy? Kids have not fully developed their rational system Very little understanding of long term consequences Developing understanding of the marketplace Almost like a hot state all the time Reactance to paternalism Fortunately, most kids find some healthy foods to be appealing and acceptable We can make some foods cool We can lead them to make the right choice 5

Smarter Lunchrooms What if we design the lunch room to gently encourage the decisions we want?

self-defeating Encourages future healthy choices What is the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement?

the lunchroom Increase sales: Finding innovative ways to increase cafeteria sales and participation by encouraging greater consumption of healthier foods

6 Smarter Lunchrooms What if we design the lunch room to gently encourage the decisions we want? Use behavioral theory to encourage better choices Some of these changes can be extremely low cost This avoids reactance Banning certain foods can be self-defeating Encourages future healthy choices What is the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement? The Smarter Lunchrooms Movement seeks to Nudge choices: Using research-based suggestions to guide students to unknowingly, make smarter, healthier choices in the lunchroom Increase sales: Finding innovative ways to increase cafeteria sales and participation by encouraging greater consumption of healthier foods Implement low-cost/no-cost changes: Since many cafeterias receive a limited budget, suggestions are focused on changing the school lunch environment Keep a variety of food choices: Nudging students without completely eliminating unhealthy choices from the menu or only raising prices on less healthy foods 6

The Name Game Use cool or appealing labels to describe foods Meatloaf BC Eagle Burger Doubled the consumption of meatloaf Steak Sandwich Cheesy Philly Sandwich Increased sandwich consumption by more

) Meatloaf Brown County Eagle Burger Why not Extreme Yogurt, Mega-Milk Champion Cheese & High Flyin Flat Bread Give em a Choice! This?

7 The Name Game Use cool or appealing labels to describe foods Meatloaf BC Eagle Burger Doubled the consumption of meatloaf Steak Sandwich Cheesy Philly Sandwich Increased sandwich consumption by more than 15%! (It could have been more, but they sold out in the second of three lunch periods!) Meatloaf Brown County Eagle Burger Why not Extreme Yogurt, Mega-Milk Champion Cheese & High Flyin Flat Bread Give em a Choice! This? People report being more satisfied with an option if they have chosen it than if it is forced on them, even when the default option is the what they would have chosen anyway! Kids given a choice between carrots and celery 91% of the vegetable taken vs. 69% when carrots alone were offered. Or This? Give Milk the Edge Rearranging the coolers to highlight white milk resulted in an increased rate of purchase by approximately 26% BEFORE AFTER 7

when applesauce & fruit cocktail were on the hot lunch line: The same

8 Trigger Foods On days when green beans & bananas were on the hot lunch line: Students who did NOT take fruits/vegetables were 6% less likely to take a cookie & 11% less likely to take an ice cream On days when applesauce & fruit cocktail were on the hot lunch line: The same students were 6% more likely to choose a cookie and 15% more likely to choose chips/fruit snacks etc. BC School Lunch Design/Layout 8

9 Increase Convenience of Healthier Foods (FLOW) Hot Lunch Line Cash Register M I L K D O O R Before Remodel During Remodel 9

After Remodel Learn More! www.smarterlunchrooms.

10 After Remodel Learn More! Other Resources thierus-school-challengeresources/smarter-lunchrooms Smarter Lunchroom Movement 10

11 THANK YOU! The Smarter Lunchrooms Movement Jason Kirchhofer, FSD Office: Cell: Special thanks to All Brown County Eagle's Food Service Staff Members Dr. Hammack and the Brown County School Board Learn more about Brown County Schools Please visit: References Just, David R. and Brian Wansink (2009), Better School Meals on a Budget: Using Behavioral Economics and Food Psychology to Improve Meal Selection, Choices, 24:3, 1-6. Just, David R. and Brian Wansink (2011), School Lunch Debit Cards are Associated with Lower Nutrition and Higher Calories, Journal of Adolescent Health. Wansink, Brian, and David Just (2011), Healthy Foods First: Students Take the First Lunchroom Food 11% More Often Than the Third, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Volume 43:4S1, S9. Wansink, Brian, David R. Just, and Joe McKendry (2010), Lunch Line Redesign, New York Times, October 22, p. A10. Wansink, Brian, David R. Just, and Collin R. Payne (2012), The Behavioral Economics of Healthier School Lunch Payment Systems, Journal of Marketing. Wansink, Brian, David Just, and Laura Smith (2011), Move the Fruit: Putting Fruit in New Bowls and New Places Doubles Lunchroom Sales, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Volume 43:4S1, S1. Wansink, Brian, Koert van Ittersum, and James E. Painter (2005), How Descriptive Food Names Bias Sensory Perceptions in Restaurants, Food Quality and Preference, 16:5, Wansink, Brian, David Just, and Laura Smith (2011), What is in a Name? Giving Descriptive Names to Vegetables Increases Lunchroom Sales, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Volume 43:4S1, S1. 11

Smarter Lunchrooms Movement

Introduction to Behavioral Economics in Food Choices Funded by USDA/FNS/ERS Smarter Lunchrooms Movement BEN Center 2015 It s Not Nutrition Until It s Eaten Adam Brumberg, Deputy Director Cornell Food &