Marketing Acceptance Write Up

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

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School Lunch Marketing Plan
Group Members:
Susannah Brewton, Tarryn Hake, Sarah Nahum, Nelson Reames, Denielle Saitta, Alyssa
Schroeder, Alexandra Tracchio
Objective: Increase the number of students who participate in school lunch at Statesboro High
School by 5 percent within 3 weeks.
Target market: Statesboro High School students
Target market segmentation: demographic - grades 9-12 (ages 14-18); females & males;
African-Americans, Caucasians, Mexican Americans
Marketing mix:
Product: Statesboro High School school lunch and customer service
Place: Statesboro High School cafeteria
Price: School lunch costs $2.10; Reduced price school lunch costs $0.40
Labor: 13 cafeteria staff and school nutrition manager x 8 hours x pay
per hour
Supplies: Bulletin board costs $28.30; In-school TV announcement (slideshow) is
at no cost; Menu flyers and deli line labels cost $44.00
People: Statesboro High School cafeteria staff
Promotion: Marketing strategies are bulletin board, in-school TV announcement
(slideshow), and menu flyers and deli line labels. Please refer to separate
documents for descriptions of the marketing strategies.
Physical evidence: Please refer to photos for physical evidence of the marketing
strategies.
Process:

Bulletin
board

Schedule

Name &
Description

Support
Materials

8/31-9/25

Eat Mor Deli, Eat
Mor Skool Lunch;
Draw attention to
school lunch
participation in
concise message

30’’ x 56’’
Alexandra
white butcher Tracchio &
paper
Alyssa
Schroeder
Green
borders
Green
stenciled

People

Duration

Locale

30 min (setup) &
36 hrs
(implementation)

School
lunch
area

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

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lettering
2 shades
green tissue
paper
Black and
red acrylic
paint
In-school
TV
slideshow

Menu
flyers and
deli line
labels

8/31-9/25

8/31-9/25

KEEP CALM and
DELI ON; Use
currently trending
theme in slideshow
presentation to
increase
participation in
deli line

TV monitors
in the
cafeteria

Label
Enhancement and
Table
Arrangements;
Revamp current
deli line with new
product labels and
“Blue Devil Deli”
sign; Add
decoration to
school lunch area
with the table signs

Computer

Nelson
Reames &
Tarryn
Hake

5-10 min (setup) & School
36 hrs
lunch
(implementation)
area

Susannah
Brewton &
Denielle
Saitta

45 min (setup) &
36 hrs
(implementation)

6 slide
PowerPoint
ad

Paper - 19
sheets
Clear photo
frames - 19
Small
chalkboard
White paint
marker

Environmental Factors:
Competitive Forces - Fast food restaurants around Statesboro High School have low prices for
menu items
Regulatory Forces - School rules may impact marketing strategies due to where and when
implementation can occur
Political Forces - Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 led to new nutrition standards for NSLP
meaning healthier school lunch menu items are required
Economic Forces - Family income may impact students getting school lunch; School budget may
determine menu item availability
Legal Forces - How Statesboro High School school nutrition manager decides to incorporate the
new nutrition standards for NSLP

School
lunch
area

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

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Societal Forces - Students may be impacted by their peers’ choices. For example, if one student
tells his or her group that the school lunch is nasty and they should not eat it, everyone in the
group will be impacted by this statement. They could possibly even choose not to eat school
lunch as a result of this meaningless statement. Additionally, societal forces have little impact on
the “place” of school lunch, since all students are typically required to report to the lunchroom
during lunch time, whether they partake in lunch from the cafeteria or not. However, some
schools may allow students to leave the campus during lunch time. Factors affecting
participation in the school lunch program may include distance from fast food restaurants and
distance from convenient stores.
Technological Forces - Students may only respond to marketing strategies that use social media
and televisions
Challenges: Possible challenges that may occur during implementation include lack of
participation from students and ridicule from students, teachers, and staff.

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

School Lunch Acceptance Study and Marketing Plan Project:
Section 5
Statesboro High School
Susannah Brewton, Tarryn Hake, Sarah Nahum, Nelson Reames,
Denielle Saitta, Alyssa Schroeder, Alexandra Tracchio
Georgia Southern University

4

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

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School Lunch Acceptance Study and Marketing Plan Section 5
In the following paragraphs, we will first summarize the current research about the
quality, participation, and perceptions of school lunches and the current research about marketing
efforts in school nutrition programs. Next, we will describe the processes of collecting
participation, plate waste, and perceptions of school lunch data, including a description of
challenges or issues that occurred during data collection. Additionally, we will analyze the
information that we learned from our observations, our conversations with the manager, Martha
White, and our data collection of participation, plate waste studies, and perception surveys.
Lastly, we will include the completed data collection tools used in our project.
Literature Review
There are many factors that come to play when children and adolescents decide on what
they will be eating for lunch, especially with the recent implementation of the new national
school lunch program. The following research summarizes the quality, participation, and
perceptions of school lunches before and after the implementation of the new national school
lunch program standards.
The first study was done on a large sample of school-age children to determine whether
or not the new school lunch standards made an impact on students’ selection and consumption of
foods. The background of this study was focused on the media and public outcry. The media and
public believed that the new changes to the school meal standards have led to a significant
increase in plate waste due to increased portion sizes and the requirement that each student
choose a fruit or vegetable (Cohen et al, 2014). The researchers described the intervention as the
implementation of the new school meal standards at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.
To measure plate waste, they conducted a two day pre-implementation (before the new school

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meal standards) and a two day post-implementation (after the new school meal standards)
measurement of consumption using established plate waste study methods. The researchers
found that there was a 23 percent increase in fruit selection, although both entrée and vegetable
consumption remained the same as before the new standards. Also, the post-implementation
measurement showed entrée consumption increased by 15.6 percent, vegetable consumption
increased by 16.2 percent, but fruit consumption remained the same (Cohen et al, 2014). This
study showed that the new school lunch standards have had a positive impact on both
consumption and meal selection and have not led to increased plate waste. One limitation of this
study is that the researchers only studied low-income, urban school districts. They felt that there
is still a need to examine the impact this study has on higher-income school districts (Cohen et
al, 2014).
Another study focused on the nutrient content of meals served at school lunches before
and after the implementation of a nutrition intervention. This article focused on the increased
childhood obesity rates in the United States over the past 30 years, which were attributed to the
food environment (Cummings et al, 2014). This study implied that school nutrition plays a key
role in a child’s food environment and that the recently implemented school lunch program
standards may be able to help combat this national problem (Cummings et al, 2014). In this
study, the researchers compared the nutrient levels of school meals before and after nutrition
interventions at five school districts. They then compared the school menu changes to national
school menu regulations. Researchers found that in these five school districts, the menu changes
that were made resulted in a reduction of overall calories, sugar, and sodium content. The most
significant of these changes were observed during breakfast when there was a dramatic reduction
in sugar, total fat and sodium content of the meal (Cummings et al, 2014). One limitation of this

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study is that more research needs to be done to figure out the student selection and actual
consumption of these meals (Cummings et al, 2014).
The last study focused on the many barriers pertaining to participation in the National
School Lunch Program. When the National School Lunch Program was first implemented
in the San Francisco School District, there was a significant decrease in school lunch
participation (Bhatia et al, 2011). The objective of this study was to observe and discuss
competitive foods in the a la carte line and the impact the removal of these foods has on school
lunch participation. The researchers found that when a la carte items were removed, there was an
increase in the participation rates for the National School Lunch Program by an average of 23
percent (Bhatia et al, 2011). Some of the reasons that students did not participate in the National
School Lunch Program before the a la carte items were removed were due to perceptions that the
program was for poor children and that the identity of low-income students would be
compromised when participating in the program. This study showed that it is possible to improve
the participation rate in the National School Lunch Program for qualified students and to
successfully remove competitive foods (Bhatia et al, 2011). A limitation to the study was that the
researchers were not able to establish a specific cause of the increased participation; more
research should be done to establish these findings (Bhatia et al, 2011).
Discussion
These studies showed that the National School Lunch Program has positive and negative
implications when it comes to quality, participation, and perceptions of school lunches. They
showed that overall, the school lunch program is contributing to better nutrition. Additionally,
these studies showed that more work needs to be done on students’ perceptions of the National
School Lunch Program.

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

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Literature Review
Children and adolescents are exposed to multiple food messages daily through screenbased media. According to Jones and colleagues, due to food advertisements, “children consume
an additional 122 kilocalories of sugar-sweetened beverages for each additional hour of
television they view, suggesting that marketing probably leads to increased consumption” (Jones
et al, 2012). Food advertisements contribute to the likelihood that children and adolescents
purchase more sugar-sweetened beverages if they are offered at point of sale.
One study focused on the negative influences the media has on adolescents’ food choices.
The purpose of this study was to report the association between eighth-grade students’ purchases
of sugar-sweetened beverages and snack foods and these two policy targets: screen-based media
(a proxy for exposure to food advertising) and school-level availability of sugar-sweetened
beverages and snack food (Jones et al, 2012). The students were asked what sugar-sweetened
beverages the school offered and how frequently they purchased them. Students were also asked
about how often they purchased sweet snacks. They answered based on three variables: never
purchase, purchase one to four times a week, or purchase one or more per day. Additionally,
adolescents were asked to write down how many hours they spend using various forms of
screen-based media during the week and on weekends. The results showed that the average
eighth-grade student spends a total of six and a half hours per day each week watching screenbased media. “20.8 percent of students reported purchasing a sweetened beverage at school one
to four times in the past week and 38 percent of adolescents reported purchasing a snack one to
four times a week” (Jones et al, 2012). It has been observed in multiple studies that students and
administrators report differences in the availability of sugar-sweetened beverages and snack

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foods in schools. The results of this study were that there was a negative implication of screenbased media on adolescents and their food choices at school.
Another study examined the efficacy of low-calorie foods offered in vending machines in
high schools in the Netherlands. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of three
strategies on the volume of sales from vending machines and on students’ product choices. The
strategies were: increasing the availability of low-calorie foods, labeling, and reducing prices for
lower calorie products (Kocken et al, 2012). The schools were randomly selected to an
experimental group or control group. There were a total of 13 experimental schools and 15
control schools. “The intervention consisted of three strategies that were introduced in school
vending machines in three successive 6-week phases” (Kocken et al, 2012). Phase I consisted of
increasing the availability of low-calorie products. In this phase, there were three groups: foods
containing empty calories, nutrient-rich foods, and beverages. Phase II focused on labeling the
products. There were colored labels and “thumbs up” pictures based off the product description.
There were three categories of labels: favorable, moderately unfavorable, and unfavorable. Phase
III focused on reducing the prices of low-calorie products. “In phase 3, the prices of favorable
and moderately unfavorable products were reduced by $0.10 per product, an average reduction
of 10%” (Kocken et al, 2012). Data of sales were recorded throughout the study. Results showed
that moderately unfavorable extra foods (100-170 kcals) were significantly higher in all phases
in the experimental group after implementation. During the last phase, when prices were
reduced, there was a significant increase in favorable beverages in the experimental groups.
“This study shows that changes to school vending machines increase students’ purchases of
lower-calorie foods” (Kocken et al, 2012). The researchers considered the possibility of students
having permission to leave school for lunch. They found that when students were given

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

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permission to leave, there was an effect on the intervention for sales of these low-calorie
products. It is important to keep adolescents on school grounds when there is a plethora of
unhealthy, competitive outside food companies. Kocken and colleagues (2012) stated that the
provision of more lower-calorie foods in the vending machine had a positive effect, also when it
was combined with labeling and reduced prices.
The last study observed the outside marketing strategies at local retail food stores and
their effect on children’s food choices. “The retail food store environment in the United States,
where major food and beverage companies spend ~$200M per year on marketing and
promotions, remains an understudied space” (Grisgby-Toussaint et al, 2011). The purpose of this
study was to assess food marketing strategies targeted to youth in convenience/corner and
grocery stores. There were two objectives of this study: (1) to examine the extent to which foods
marketed to youth on the Internet and television are also available and marketed in retail food
stores and (2) to determine whether differences exist in the amount of marketing observed across
store types and by neighborhood racial composition (Grigsby-Toussaint et al, 2011). The sample
consisted of 118 stores throughout four Midwestern cities in Illinois. Grigsby-Toussaint and
colleagues (2011) looked at 11 different categories for marketing strategies; the categories were:
breads and pastries, breakfast cereals, candy and gum, chips, cookies and crackers, dairy, fruit
and cereal bars, ice cream, non-carbonated drinks, prepared foods, and soda. The results showed
that there was the highest prevalence of available food items (87%) within convenient stores.
Soda had the highest food availability (92%) in the stores and ice cream had the lowest food
availability (62%) in the stores. Grocery stores had the highest average marketing to availability
ratio (57.5%). “Non-carbonated drinks [97.7%], fruit and cereal bars [76.9%], and soda [62.2%]
were the most likely to have some type of marketing technique across all stores” (Grigsby-

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

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Toussaint et al, 2011). The results showed that there is a strong influence on preferences of food
purchased due to the amount of marketing in retail food stores. Grigsby-Toussaint and colleagues
stated that children can be exposed to approximately 4,000 television advertisements for poor
nutritional foods per year. Retail food stores and school officials may reinforce preferences for
energy dense foods.
Discussion
Currently, there is no regulation on screen-based media marketing. In multiple studies,
the influence screen-based media has on adolescents is observed. Through changing the type of
advertisements adolescents are exposed to, childhood obesity may be prevented by marketing
healthy foods. The school health administration has a major influence on the food choices for
these adolescents. The school officials need to work with health professionals to increase the
lower-calorie foods in the school cafeteria, especially vending machines, and to limit the offcampus privileges of high school students to eliminate the outside influence of competitive food
companies.
The Processes of Collecting Data and the Challenges Faced
Upon arrival to Statesboro High School the week of August 17, we checked in with the
school secretary and made our way to the school cafeteria. We introduced ourselves to the
lunchroom manager, Martha White, and explained to her, in detail, what our plans were. We
spoke with the assistant lunchroom manager as well, and he was able to give us more detailed
information about the lunch program, as Mrs. White was very busy with preparation.
The first item on our agenda was distributing the school lunch perception surveys. There
were two different surveys, one version for participants in school lunch and another for nonparticipants in school lunch. We were concerned that the students would be unwilling to

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participate but realized quickly that the students were actually very eager to participate. Students
even began coming up to us, asking for surveys. Additionally, we found that many students
wanted to voice their opinions of school lunch. Many students had positive things to say
regarding school lunch. On the other hand, a number of students, mostly those bringing lunch
from home, had strong opposition to eating school lunch.
The plate waste studies, however, were quite difficult. Statesboro High School has four
lunch periods. During the first period, we made a plan to stand by the trashcans at the end of
lunch to determine plate waste as the students threw away their leftovers. This was nearly
impossible, as the process happened very quickly. Since the trays and utensils are disposable at
Statesboro High School, there is no tray return, which meant that we had less time to observe the
trays. After the first lunch, we realized that we needed to develop a more efficient plan of
conducting plate waste studies. The solution to our problem was to walk around the lunchroom at
the end of the lunch period before the bell rang and before students threw away their trays. We
determined plate waste at this time. Using this method, we were able to gather the majority of
our studies.

Analysis
Observations
While at Statesboro High School, we observed many factors that affected quality,
participation, and perceptions in the school lunch program.
Conversations with school cafeteria manager and assistant manager. The 2015-2016
school year lunch has tremendously improved as compared to last year. Average lunch
participation ranges between 700 - 900 students every day and total enrollment is approximately
1,058 students. The assistant manager, Gene, stated that this was due to a change in food quality

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and items now offered daily. This year, the department began ordering chicken breasts, which is
a better product than the chicken meat they were ordering. They also began offering personal pan
pizzas, Smart Mouth, everyday during the week. In the past, pizza was available for students two
days a week, Wednesday and Friday. Starting September 1st, pizzas will no longer be offered
every day for students. Instead, they will only be offered 3 days a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and
Friday. Since the pizza is so popular, the staff is making around 700 pizzas a day. This process is
very time consuming and requires too much work for the staff to handle along with preparing the
other entrees for the day.
School lunch from a student's perspective. From the students, we discovered while
some do like the lunch more as compared to last year, there are still many complaints about the
lunch. Students are a big fan of the personal pizza and enjoy having that option every day. Many
also said they like the dishes that are spicy or hot, like the new spicy chicken sandwiches.
However, others complained that the food was always cold and that there was only one beverage
option available for students, milk. Some suggested offering juice at lunch in addition to the
milk. Boys, particularly the athletes, also complained that they are not given enough food. Due to
the new nutrition standards and regulations, school lunch portions, quality, and items have
changed.
Free or Reduced Meals & Paid Meals. A full price student meal at Statesboro High
School is $2.10. This would be the price for those students who are not receiving free or reduced
meals. If a student is receiving reduced meals, their meal is $0.40. If a student is receiving free
meals they will pay nothing. At Statesboro High School, about 85 percent of students are
receiving free or reduced meals. New this year, breakfast is now available free to all students
regardless of their lunch eligibility. Last year, between 300 - 400 students participated in the

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breakfast program. Participation has started off slow this school year, but generally picks up
more during the course of the year.
Influences. There are many factors that influence the choices students make while in the
cafeteria. Some students are transitioning from middle school to high school and are enjoying the
abundant variety of entrees and sides available to them. If an adolescent is receiving free lunch
or if they are paying for their lunch, also influences them when in line. How a dish looks and
smells while on the serving line or on their plate is another large impact. Another influence may
be students’ peers as well as society. While observing at Statesboro High School, we noticed that
if a student purchased lunch, they typically sat among others who purchased school lunch also.
This was also noticed for those who would bring lunch from home. Other environmental factors
include the fast food restaurants that are around the school like Chick-fil-A and Starbucks.
However, students are not allowed to leave school for lunch unless they are part of the work
study program.
Menu. Statesboro High School follows a 5-week cycle menu. A cycle menu is a menu
that offers different food items every day and repeats itself after multiple days or weeks. When
and how often they repeat is at the discretion of the institution. The menu is available online for
students to view and see what will be served in the cafeteria. The menu is written by the director
of foodservice, Megan Blanchard. Megan is in charge of 14 schools.
Work schedules. In total, there are 14 employees in the school cafeteria, including the
manager. The breakfast staff comes in at 6:30 am to start breakfast for the students. At 7:00 am,
the remaining staff will come in to begin lunch preparation. However, some preparation work is
done the night before.

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Cooking methods. There are several different cooking methods employed at Statesboro
High School. The school has ovens, stoves, skillets and grills. The school has a hand slicer that
they use to cut the deli meat. Workstations are used throughout the kitchen for food preparation
and assembly, chopping and cutting different foods, or for keeping foods from cross
contamination. The most notable cooking method is the way the school makes the personal
pizzas. These pizzas are each individually prepared in their own pizza pan. First, the pizza pan is
sprayed with a non-stick spray to prevent the product from ruining and sticking to the pan. Next,
the pre-made and frozen pizza dough is placed into the pan. Red tomato pizza sauce is then
ladled onto the dough and spread to cover the entire surface. Cheese is then sprinkled on top of
the sauce and dough. Pepperoni is placed onto some of the pizzas. After the pizza is assembled,
the pan is placed on a conveyor belt where it moves food through the oven. About six pans at a
time can go through the oven. It takes about 4-6 minutes for the pizza to finish once on the belt.
Once the pizza is done, it is then removed from the belt and placed in a pizza box. These are then
held in the hot holding box until ready for student purchasing. With the large quantity of pizzas
being purchased, the kitchen staff is constantly making pizzas throughout the lunch period.
Holding temperatures. Temperatures we collected while at Statesboro High School
were all within the correct holding temperatures for food safety. The school also displayed a
temperature danger zone poster in the kitchen.
● Freezer temperature: 2 degrees
● Cooler temperature: 36 degrees
● Cold item: 15 degrees
● Hot items: 143, 150, 181, and 191 degrees

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Facility design. The facility design is basically set up as a typical foodservice
establishment. Sanitation, chemical storage, dry storage, employee belongings, and a bathroom
are all found in the back of house. The freezer, cooler, holding areas, prep tables, and a threecompartment sink along the wall are all located in the front of house.
Food production flow & procedures. The staff members wear matching uniforms,
usually black pants and purple tops, each day. In regards to policies, Statesboro High School
lunchroom follows standard commercial kitchen policies. The food production flow is smooth
and orderly. Additionally, the staff is in charge of keeping a sample of each food served on hand
for seven days, in the event that a foodborne illness occurs. Standard sized pans and materials are
used. The lunchroom operates on an offer vs. serve basis, allowing students to decline some
items being served. Lastly, the trays and utensils are both disposable; the trays are Styrofoam,
utensils are plastic, and the deli uses red and white paper boat plates.
Serving lines. The foods served are portioned out prior to students entering the cafeteria.
There are three separate lunch lines; two of the lines are for hot foods and pizza, and the third
line is for the deli and salad bar. The deli offers various options of cold cuts, such as turkey, ham,
and roast beef, and most students preferred white bread instead of wheat. The salad bar offers a
number of toppings, and students are able to choose their own dressing using a squeeze bottle.
The older the students, the more they seem to go through this line. Students are only able to pick
up what is available at the specific line they choose. For example, bags of chips are offered in the
deli and salad bar line, but students who choose to have pizza cannot pick up a bag of chips.
These chips cannot be bought separately. Students must have at least one vegetable or fruit, and
they can pick up both if they choose. When a student chooses pizza, they do not get a tray, thus it

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is harder for them to pick up and hold other food items. There is line for paid beverages that are
not included in the lunch price. These beverages include lemonade, tea, and punch.
Sales. The top selling menu items include spicy chicken, pizza, cheeseburgers, chicken
tenders, chick-fil-a sandwiches, fries, and anything spicy. The lowest selling menu item is fish
sticks. According to the assistant manager, the students are not really big on tacos and fajitas
either, which is surprising.
Vending machines. There are various vending machines made available to students.
These machines offer items such as candy, baked desserts, chips, peanuts, trail mix, or granola
bars. Other machines offer drink options like diet sodas, water, or Powerade. While visiting the
school, we noticed that very few students purchased anything from the machines. There is also a
water and ice machine that students are able to use in the cafeteria.
Cafeteria. The cafeteria has bench seating, and students are able to sit anywhere they
choose. There is a nice outdoor area, but students are not allowed to leave the lunchroom and eat
outside. The volume level is medium, and students are able to move around. The cafeteria is very
clean and contains a few items of school spirit. However, there are no promotional items relating
to school lunch and healthy eating. Signs hang on the walls advertising Coca-Cola products
available for purchase. Televisions are mounted in several places around the cafeteria, but they
were all turned off except one. A microwave is available in the cafeteria for student use. Lastly,
administrators, teachers, and a police officer stand watch during the lunch periods.
Lunchtime procedure. Lunch starts at 11:15 a.m. and ends at 1:00 p.m. Students go to
lunch during their 4th block of the school day. There are four lunches, and each lunch is a 30minute period with a 5-minute break in between lunches. The number of students during each
lunch is as follows:

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1. Lunch Period #1: 200
2. Lunch Period #2: 150
3. Lunch Period #3: 175
4. Lunch Period #4: 180
Teachers’ Perceptions. It was observed that if a teacher is purchasing school lunch, they
typically go through the deli line where they get either a salad or sub sandwich. There were not
many teachers observed going through the lunch line. Many teachers voiced that they do not like
the school lunch because the lunch is only carbohydrates, make them gain weight, or is not good.
They want the old lunches back.
Kitchen Staff Perceptions. The kitchen staff shared that more students are coming
through the hot entree lines this year as compared to last year. They say that the students are
enjoying the pizzas offered every day as well as the new spicy dishes. They would like to see
more students going through the deli line, like they used to. When asked what foods they like,
they said it depended on the day. Barbecue chicken and spaghetti were their favorites. Their least
favorite were the tacos.
Production Records. Production records were not accessible at the time of our study but
will be provided to us as soon as they become available.
Summary of Plate Waste Studies
The plate waste studies conducted on August 19th showed the high school students
selected pizza the most of any menu item that day, and 90.323% of those students ate all of the
pizza. The menu items selected the least that day were salad, deli subs, and rolls. However, there
was no plate waste with the salad, and 90% of the students who selected a deli sub ate all of it.
There was a lot of plate waste when the rolls were selected.

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The plate waste studies conducted on August 20th showed the high school students
selected pizza the most of any menu item that day, and 90.123% of those students ate all of the
pizza. The menu items selected the least that day were deli subs, Sloppy Joes, and salad.
However, 84.211% of the students who selected a deli sub ate all of it, 78.947% of the students
who selected a Sloppy Joe ate all of it, and 58.333% of the students who selected a salad ate all
of it.
The plate waste studies conducted on August 21st showed the high school students
selected pizza the most of any menu item that day, and 83.333% of those students ate all of the
pizza. The menu items selected the least that day were chicken nuggets, rolls, fruits, salad, milk,
and deli subs. However, the following was observed: 75% of the students who selected chicken
nuggets ate all of them, 75% of the students who selected a salad did not eat any of it, and 75%
of the students who selected a deli sub ate all of it.
Summary of Perception Surveys
A total of 304 surveys were completed over the course of 12 lunch periods between
August 19 and August 21, 2015. There were two different surveys based upon school lunch
participation: Participant (School Lunch Experience) and Non-Participant (Non-participant
Survey), which were given to the respective student population.
School Lunch Experience Survey. There were 156 students who participated in the
School Lunch Experience survey between Wednesday, August 19 and Friday, August 21. We
categorized the questions by perception of dining experience, cafeteria service and quality of
food items and meals (Table 1). Figure 1 shows the most frequent responses made by students.
After reviewing the School Lunch Experience surveys, the most indifferent (neither agreed nor
disagreed) perception of school lunch was the overall dining experience. Most students (31.16%)

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said they felt they could not offer suggestions for meal options. In addition, most students
responded they did not know what was being served prior to entering the cafeteria, however they
strongly agreed they could purchase a la carte menu items if they were not satisfied with entree
options. Most students agreed there was more than enough seating space in the cafeteria but were
indifferent about overall quality of dining experience.

Table 1
Category

Question

Dining Experience

15. “I know that I can offer suggestions”
16. “There is enough seating space in the dining area”
18.”I know what is being served before I get to the
cafeteria”
19. “I can purchase other items (a la carte) if I don’t
want the full meal”
20. “I have enough time to eat”
24. “The overall quality of my dining experience is
good”

Cafeteria Service

2. “The staff understands my mealtime needs”
9. “The staff look like they enjoy their work”
14. “The service is friendly”
23. “The overall quality of the service is good”

Quality of Food Items
(Based on freshness, taste, smell, flavor)

1. “The food served is fresh”
3. “ The food tastes good”
5. “The food smells good”
11. “The food looks appealing”
12. “Food is cooked to the proper doneness”
13. “The food has a homemade quality”
21. “The quality of the food is consistent”
22. “The overall quality (taste, appearance,
temperature) of the food served is good”

Satisfaction of Meals
(Based on serving size, consistency, variety of healthy
options, variety of menu item options)

4. “There is variety of food items that I can choose
from”
6. “The menu provides healthy meal options”
7. “The amount of food I get is enough”
8. “The flavors of the food go well together”
10. “The variety of in the menu from day to day”
17. “The serving portions are consistent”

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Figure 1

The overall student perception of quality of service and staff was indifferent as well.
According to the surveys, most students perceived cafeteria staff to be friendly and looked as if
they enjoyed their job. However, the majority of students surveyed (24.68%) felt the staff did not
understand the mealtime needs of the students.
Students were also indifferent about the quality of the consistency in food and overall
quality of the food. The student perceptions of quality of the food served was indifferent for
freshness, taste, smell and the aesthetic looks. In addition, most students (33.56%) said the food
prepared did not have a “homemade quality”.

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Perception by students of meal satisfaction strongly agreed there was a variety of food to
choose from, and the menu provided healthy options. Most students (31.61%) also said the
amount of food served was not enough. Additionally, they felt that some menu items did not pair
well together and the serving sizes were inconsistent.
Non-Participant Survey. We had a total of 148 students, who do not participate in
school lunch, complete non-participating surveys. Section 1 of this survey is used to understand
the why the students do not eat school lunch. The majority of the students strongly agreed that
bringing their lunch was simply a personal or parental preference. 71% of students, who
completed this survey, strongly agreed on question 2 of the first portion stating, “I prefer to eat
what I bring from home.” The majority of students strongly agreed that the foods quality was
very low. Question 1 of the first portion stating, “The food does not taste good,” had 59% of
student in agreement and 28% neutral. Most of the students feel that the cafeteria staff are
friendly. Question 5 of section 1 stating, “The staff is not friendly,” had 48% of students
disagreeing, 28% neutral, and 24% in agreement with the statement. Question 23 stating, “I do
not get enough food”, had 48% agreeing and 23% neutral.
Section 2 of the survey is used to find out what might help students decide to eat school
lunch. Most students strongly agreed that they would be more likely to eat lunch if the quality,
service, and overall experience were better. Question 1 stating, “I would be more likely to eat
school lunches if the overall quality (taste, appearance, temperature) of the food served was
better”, had 77% of student in agreement. There were a variety of feelings about the service. In
question 4 stating, “I would be more likely to eat school lunches if the staff were friendlier” 48%
of students agreed, 33% disagreed, and 19% were neutral. Most students strongly agreed that the

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overall experience could be better. Question 13 stating, “I would be more likely to eat school
lunches if I received enough food to fill me up”, had 66% of student in agreement.

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Overall Perception of Marketing and Conclusion

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Overall, there were a lot of factors that impacted our research. One in particular was
marketing. Statesboro High School had little to no marketing around the school to promote
school lunch. To our understanding, the only way students knew what was going to be for lunch
that week was to check the school website; however, when accessing the school website and
searching for the lunch menu, it had not been recently updated. The current lunch menu shown is
from “January 2012.” The cafeteria where the students sit and eat lunch had no marketing of any
sort. The televisions in the cafeteria are used for daily announcements. The lunch lines where
students went through also had no decorations or marketing to increase the participation and
perception of school lunch. There were few decorations on the deli and salad line to try to
encourage the students to have a healthier option than the pizza every day. There was a crate at
the exit of every door for students to put their fruits and vegetables that they did not want before
they even sat down to eat. At the same time, other students were able to take those as extras.
Challenges of the Marketing Strategies. There were some challenges we were faced
with during this research. When we first got to the school, there was a negative perception
about school lunch. It was then our goal to change that perception so more students would want
to participate in school lunch. After we evaluated the data, we began to think of marketing
strategies that would support our hypothesis to increase school lunch participation. There were
still a few challenges we encountered when we went to the school to implement our marketing
strategies. We designed a bulletin board to gain the attention of the students with a message to
participate in school lunch. When we arrived to the school, there was limited space for us to hang
the bulletin board where the students will see the board on a daily basis. A major challenge we
faced was the menu changes. When we began the research in August, pizza was offered every
day and was the most popular menu item based on our data collection. Starting in September,

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however, pizza will only be offered three days a week. Our biggest challenge we faced as a
group was collecting the participation data. It was difficult to decipher who had already
completed a survey and which survey was completed. It is possible there were multiple students
who filled out surveys on consecutive days.
We overcame those challenges by creating marketing tools that will target our audience
in a creative way. We decided to create a chalkboard sign naming the deli line “Blue Devil Deli”
to encourage more students to go through that line on the days when pizza is not offered. We
were able to find a wall above the water and ice machine that was by the main cafeteria line. The
bulletin board is now in a place that will be easily seen by all students in the lunch room. We
overcame the marketing on the televisions by communicating with the AV manager to add a
slideshow that advertised school lunch. We were able to have those slides broadcasted on all the
televisions throughout the school as well as all the televisions in the lunch room.
Strengths of the Marketing Strategies. We believe our biggest strength was our
communication with each other as a group as well as with the school staff, including the kitchen
manager and AV manager. We were able to complete all areas of the research with minimal
complications. The kitchen staff was very helpful and we were able to establish a relationship
with them as well. The kitchen manager, Mrs. White, is very excited about our marketing
strategies to increase school lunch participation. We noticed there were post-it notes as labels on
the deli line. So, our group created eye-catching labels to display on the deli line. They were
placed in a location that was easily seen by the students in the lunch line. Overall, our marketing
strategies are strengths of our research. We created tools that will increase the school lunch
participation; we created a bulletin board, TV advertisements, food labels, and table-top flyers.
The marketing tools are placed in areas of the school and cafeteria where all students will easily

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be targeted. Our messages were written in a language that is relatable to this target audience. The
table-top flyers were placed on the lunch tables as well as by the cash registers.

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References
Bhatia, R., Jones, P., Reicker, Z. (2011). Competitive foods, discrimination, and
participation in the national school lunch program. American Journal of Public Health,
101(8), 1380-1386.
Cohen, J., Richardson, S., Parker, E., Catalano, P.J., Rimm, E.B. (2014). Impact
of the new U.S. Department of Agriculture school meal standards on food selection,
consumption, and waste. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 46(4), 388-394.
Cummings, P.L., Welch, S.B., Mason, M., Burbage, L., Kwon, S., Kuo, T. (2014). Nutrient
content of school meals before and after implementation of nutrient recommendations in
five school districts across two U.S. counties. American Journal of Preventative
Medicine, 67, S21-S27.
Grigsby-Toussaint, D.S., Moise, I.K., & Geiger, S.D. (2011). Observations of marketing
on food packaging targeted to youth in retail food stores. Obesity Journal, 19(9), 18981900.
Jones, S., Chu, Y.H., Burke, M.P., Teixeira, A., Blake, C.E., & Frongillo, E.A. (2012). A
case for targeting marketing and availability in school food policy: adolescents’ food
purchases at school and exposure to television, internet, and video games. Journal of
Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 7, 1-10.
Kocken, P.L., Eeuwijk, J., van Kesteren, N.C., Dusseldorp, E., Buus, G., Bassa-Dafesh,
Z., & Snel, J. (2012). Promoting the purchase of low-calorie foods from school vending
machines: a cluster-randomized controlled study. Journal of School Health, 82(3), 115123.

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School Lunch Acceptance Study and Marketing Plan Project:
Sections 10-13
Statesboro High School
Susannah Brewton, Tarryn Hake, Sarah Nahum, Nelson Reames,
Denielle Saitta, Alyssa Schroeder, Alexandra Tracchio
Georgia Southern University

School Lunch Acceptance Study and Marketing Plan Sections 10-13

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In the following paragraphs, we will thoroughly describe the processes (who, what, when,
where, and how) of collecting participation, plate waste and perceptions of school lunch data.
Next, we will assess and summarize the results of our data collection from our participation,
plate waste studies and perceptions surveys. Additionally, we will compare and discuss our
results with the data we collected prior to the implementation of the marketing plan. We will
describe the conversation with Statesboro High’s manager, Ms. Martha White, as well as others
about the effectiveness of your marketing plan and implementation. Lastly, we will report our
assessment of the overall effectiveness of the marking plan and its implementation as well as its
impact on school lunch participation and student perceptions by describing strengths and
weaknesses and providing improvement suggestions.
Discussion on the Effectiveness of the Marketing and Implementation
On Monday, September 21, 2015, we returned to Statesboro High School to collect the
follow-up data. We discussed the marketing materials and their effectiveness with the school
nutrition manager. Martha White, the school nutrition manager of Statesboro High School, said
that our marketing materials made an impact on the students. As we were implementing the
materials, Martha White and her staff were very impressed with our ideas and were also very
excited to see the results. We discussed with Martha White her thoughts about the effectiveness
of our marketing material. She believed that our marketing materials were a success. She told us
there was an increase in school lunch participation along with students receiving healthier lunch
options, salads or deli sandwiches. One day, in particular, there were 289 students that went
through the deli and salad line instead of the pizza/entree line. There is a difference in
participation due to the change in the food menu; pizza used to be offered every day whereas
now it is only offered three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday). There is more of an

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increase in school lunch participation seen in the 9th graders. Martha White mentioned how she
would like to personally ask the students how they feel about school lunch and the menu. Her
position at this location cannot allow the time for that because there are too many students. The
school nutrition staff at Statesboro High School are learning how to reduce waste as well. They
are developing their menus to match the least popular items with pizza. They are able to better
predict what the students will eat. Martha White did not have many suggestions for
improvement.
Analysis of the Implementation
Description of process of implementation
The implementation of this project included the participation and ideas of all the group members
(Alex, Alyssa, Denielle, Nelson, Sarah, Susannah and Tarryn). The implementation began on
Monday, August 31, 2015 and was conducted at Statesboro High School. Our implementation
included a bulletin board, tabletop decorations, deli line decorations and a TV slideshow. As a
group, we brainstormed ideas that would be successful in increasing participation in school
lunch. We collectively decided on creating a bulletin board, tabletop decorations, deli line
decorations including new labels, and a school lunch themed slideshow. The bulletin board was
created and Alex and Alyssa implemented it. Alex and Alyssa spoke to Martha White, the
school nutrition manager, on Monday, August 31, 2015 about the best location for the bulletin
board. After careful consideration, Martha White decided that the bulletin board should be
placed on the wall above the ice maker because a lot of students would be able to see it there,
and the space was large enough to hold the bulletin board. Susannah and Denielle developed the
tabletop decorations and created new labels for the deli line and went to Statesboro High School
with Alex and Alyssa on Monday, August 31, 2015 to implement these marketing strategies.

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While Alex and Alyssa were implementing their marketing strategies, Susannah and Denielle
spoke with the school nutrition employees to create an appealing display on the deli line.
Susannah and Denielle also inserted the marketing flyers into plastic table toppers and placed
them on all the tables throughout the cafeteria. Susannah and Denielle spoke with the custodian,
Sam, about placing the table toppers on the tables every day before lunch. Lastly, Tarryn and
Nelson created three television advertisements to gain the interest of the students so that more
would participate in the school lunch program. Tarryn and Nelson developed a PowerPoint
presentation and uploaded it to a flashdrive. Tarryn and Nelson contacted the school AV center
to ask if the slideshow could be displayed on the televisions in the cafeteria along with the other
daily announcements. The school AV center approved the advertisements.
Challenges. As with any research study, there are challenges. We encountered a few
challenges when we went to the school. When we arrived, there was not a place where we could
hang our bulletin board in the cafeteria. We had to solve this problem with the guidance of
Martha White. Sam, the custodian, helped us to display the bulletin board. There were a few
complications when hanging the bulletin board including making sure that it would remain hung
for the duration of our marketing plan implementation. Another challenge we encountered was
displaying our tabletop decorations. We were told that at the end of every lunch, the tables were
closed and put up against the wall. The tabletop decorations would need to be taken down at the
end of each day and be placed on the tables each morning before lunch. We overcame this
challenge by having previously formed a relationship with Sam. He was happy to place the
tabletop decorations on the table every morning for us. When we went back to Statesboro High
School on September 21-23 to conduct the final portion of this study, we observed that all our
marketing materials were in the correct spots.

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Description of process of collecting data
Our group returned to Statesboro High School over the course of three days (September
21-23, 2015) to recollect school lunch participation data via surveys and to conduct plate waste
studies. Each day, we arrived early to speak with Martha White as well as to get prepared for the
students to begin lunch. Once students began to sit down for lunch, each of the interns split up to
collect participation data via surveys. There were two surveys, School Participation and NonParticipant, that were given to the respective students to complete. As the lunches began to end
and the students were throwing out their trays, we positioned ourselves beside the trash cans to
complete the plate waste studies.
Challenges. There were some common challenges that occurred throughout all three
days. First, it was very difficult to mark each item per tray during the plate waste study because
the students were not in any organized line and multiple trays were thrown out at once. Second,
since the students were able to pick up anything in the line (ex: pizza and fruit) it was hard to
mark exactly what students were picking up in line. We revised our plan of action and instead of
standing at the trash cans, we walked around the lunchroom to observe finished trays. This also
proved challenging since students did not want us to look at their food trays. Collecting the
surveys was also challenging because many students were not interested in filling out another
survey, making the second and third days especially trying.
Assessment and summarization of data collection results
The plate waste studies conducted on September 21st showed the high school students
selected the chicken sandwich option over steak nuggets. Although, the numbers were very close
for both options. 75 percent of students who chose the chicken sandwich ate their entire
sandwich. 17.5 percent of students ate ¾ of their sandwich, and 7.5 percent of students ate only

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½. 56.25 percent of students who chose steak nuggets ate all of their nuggets. 25 percent of
students ate ¾ of the nuggets, 12.50 percent ate ½, and 6.25 percent ate only ¼. Of those students
who picked up a vegetable, 56.32 percent ate the entire amount given. 16.09 percent ate ¾ of
their vegetable portion, 14.94 percent ate ½, and 12.64 percent chose not to eat any of their
vegetables. Of those students who picked up fruit, 50 percent ate the entire portion given. 16.67
percent ate ¾, 13.64 percent ate ½, 1.52 percent ate ¼, and 18.18 percent did not consume any of
their fruit. In comparison to our previous studies, there was more participation in the deli line on
this day. This particular study on this specific day showed that the deli line had more
participation than the hot food line. Of those students who chose the deli line, 84.78 percent ate
their entire meal. Lastly, most students who had milk on their tray drank the entire carton.
The plate waste studies conducted on September 22nd showed that most students selected
pizza in comparison to the other menu items. Of those students, 84.30 percent consumed the
entire pizza. The other menu option this day was spaghetti, but very few students chose this over
pizza. Out of the students who chose spaghetti, 78.57 percent ate the entire portion given, 7.14
percent ate ¾, 8.93 percent ate ½, and 5.36 percent ate ¼. Of those students who had toast, 54.90
percent ate the entire slice. Of those students who picked up a vegetable, 43.28 percent ate the
entire amount given. 4.48 percent ate ¾ of their vegetable portion, 25.37 percent ate ½, and
25.37 percent chose not to eat any of their vegetables. Of those students who picked up fruit, 54
percent ate the entire portion given, 12 percent ate ¾, 12 percent ate ½, and 18 percent did not
eat any. Of the students who chose the deli line, 75.61 percent ate their entire meal. As for milk,
the majority of students drank their entire carton.
The plate waste studies conducted on September 23rd showed that the majority of
students chose the popcorn chicken option. Of those students, 90.36 percent ate the entire portion

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of chicken provided to them. The deli line participation was second to that of the popcorn
chicken participation. Out of the students who went through the deli line, 68.75 percent
consumed their entire meal. Of those students who had a roll, 47.50 percent did not consume a
single bite. On this particular day, two vegetable options, mashed potatoes and green beans, were
offered. Out of the students who picked up mashed potatoes, 55.93 percent ate all of them. Of
those students who picked up green beans, 65 percent ate all of them. Of those students who
picked up fruit, 35.38 percent ate the entire portion given, 13.85 percent ate ¾, 20 percent ate ½,
15.58 percent ate ¼, and 15.38 percent did not eat any. The majority of students who picked up
milk drank their entire carton.

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In this set of surveys we had a total of 156 students, who do not participate in school
lunch, complete non-participating surveys. Section 1 of this survey is used to understand why the
students do not eat school lunch. The majority of the students strongly agreed that bringing their
lunch was simply a personal or parental preference. 66% of students, who completed this survey,
strongly agreed on question 2 of the first portion stating, “I prefer to eat what I bring from
home.” The majority of students strongly agreed that the foods quality was very low however
our results are less compared to the last set of surveys. Question 1 of the first portion stating,
“The food does not taste good,” had 47% of student in agreement and 43% neutral. Question 5 of
section 1 stating, “The staff is not friendly,” had 43% of students disagreeing, 25% neutral, and
32% agreeing. Question 23 stating, “I do not get enough food”, had 53% agreeing and 29%
neutral.
Section 2 of the survey is used to find out what might help students decide to eat school
lunch. Most students strongly agreed that they would be more likely to eat lunch if the quality,
service, and overall experience were better. Question 1 stating, “I would be more likely to eat
school lunches if the overall quality (taste, appearance, temperature) of the food served was
better”, had 68% of students in agreement. There were a variety of feelings about the service. In
question 4 stating, “I would be more likely to eat school lunches if the staff were friendlier” 46%
of students agreed, 35% disagreed, and 19% were neutral. Most students strongly agreed that the

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overall experience could be better. Question 13 stating, “I would be more likely to eat school
lunches if I received enough food to fill me up”, had 63% of student in agreement.
Question

Category: Non-Participating

3. “The amount of food is inadequate”

Dining Experience

4. “There are not enough seats in the dining area”
9. “The food I like runs out before I get to the
cafeteria”
10. “The food I like is gone before I get there”
11. “I need time to catch up on school work”
12. “I have to go to different lines to get the food I
want”
14. “The food choices do not change”
17. “ The choices offered are not those on the
menu”
19. “There are not enough places to sit”
21. “I am busy with school projects”
22. “The food does not look appealing”
23. “I do not get enough food”
24. “They run out of food”
26. “The cafeteria appears unclean”
Cafeteria Service

5. “The staff is not friendly”
15. “The staff does not speak to me”

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25. “The staff is not always present”
Quality of Food Items

1. “ The food does not taste good”

(Based on freshness, taste,

6. “ I do not like the food that is being served”

smell, flavor)

8. “ The food does not appear nutritious”
13. “I cannot recognize what the food is
16. “ The food does not look fresh”
18. “The food is not cooked correctly”
20. “ The food does not look healthy”
22. “The food does not look appealing”
27. “The overall food quality is poor”

Personal Preference

7. “I bring my own food”
9. “My parents purchase food for me to take to
school”

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The overall student perception of quality of service and staff was indifferent as well. According
to the surveys, most students perceived cafeteria staff to be friendly and looked as if they
enjoyed their job. However, the majority of students surveyed (40%) felt the staff did not
understand the mealtime needs of the students.
Students were also indifferent about the quality of the consistency in food and overall quality of
the food. The student perceptions of quality of the food served was indifferent for freshness,
taste, smell and the aesthetic looks. In addition, most students (44%) said the food prepared did
not have a “homemade quality”.
Perception by students of meal satisfaction strongly agreed there was a variety of food to choose
from, and the menu provided healthy options. Most students (46%) also said the amount of food
served was not enough. Additionally, they felt that some menu items did not pair well together
and the serving sizes were inconsistent.

Category Participating

Question

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

Dining Experience

15. “I know that I can offer suggestions”
16. “There is enough seating space in the
dining area”
18.”I know what is being served before I
get to the cafeteria”
19. “I can purchase other items (a la carte)
if I don’t want the full meal”
20. “I have enough time to eat”
24. “The overall quality of my dining
experience is good”

Cafeteria Service

2. “The staff understands my mealtime
needs”
9. “The staff look like they enjoy their
work”
14. “The service is friendly”
23. “The overall quality of the service is
good”

Quality of Food Items

1. “The food served is fresh”

(Based on freshness, taste, smell, flavor)

3. “ The food tastes good”
5. “The food smells good”
11. “The food looks appealing”

44

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12. “Food is cooked to the proper
doneness”
13. “The food has a homemade quality”
21. “The quality of the food is consistent”
22. “The overall quality (taste, appearance,
temperature) of the food served is good”
Satisfaction of Meals

4. “There is variety of food items that I can

(Based on serving size, consistency, variety of

choose from”

healthy options, variety of menu item options)

6. “The menu provides healthy meal
options”
7. “The amount of food I get is enough”
8. “The flavors of the food go well
together”
10. “The variety of in the menu from day to
day”
17. “The serving portions are consistent”

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Comparison and discussion of marketing plan implementation data collection results
Our marketing plan had an impact on school lunch participation, perceptions, and plate
waste at Statesboro High School. Our objective was to increase the number of students who
participate in school lunch at that high school by 5 percent within 3 weeks. We also wanted
students to select deli subs or salads more often because these are healthier items. We found that
prior to implementation of our marketing plan, only about 65 percent of enrolled students

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participated in the school lunch program. We found that most of these students selected pizza as
their entree and they were not as interested in the deli subs or salads. After implementation of our
marketing plan, we found that students became more aware of the deli line and selected deli subs
or salads over other entrees when pizza was not offered. Those students who chose a deli sub ate
¾ or all of it.
Conversations regarding effectiveness of marketing plan implementation
When we spoke with Martha White and her staff on Monday September 21st, they
seemed very pleased with the effectiveness of our marketing plan and implementation. We asked
her if she thought our materials had a positive effect on the participation in school lunch and
more specifically in the participation of the deli-line. She informed us that she believes that our
implementation was successful and that it helped boost participation in the deli-line. She noted
that one day during implementation they had 289 students go through the sub-line, which is
much higher than they typically see on any given day. She also noted that they have noticed 9th
graders seemed to go through the deli-line more often than any of the other grades.
Assessment of overall effectiveness of marketing plan and implementation
As discussed with Martha White, the school nutrition manager, there has been an increase
in student participation in the deli line as well as an increase in overall lunch participation,
particularly from the 9th graders.
For our marketing plan, our group implemented a bulletin board, created tabletop
decorations, deli line decorations and created a TV slideshow to help highlight the school lunch
and encourage students to participate.
When our group returned to Statesboro High School to do our follow-up plate waste
studies, we found that in contrast to our previous studies, there was more participation in the deli

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line on September 21st. Also on this day, the deli line had more participation than the hot food
line. On September 22nd, more students purchased the personal pan pizza. This was similar to
our previous plate waste study results. The plate waste studies showed that on September 23rd,
the majority of students chose the popcorn chicken option. Unlike our previous plate waste study
results, this was a hot line itemed entrée.
We found little change in the students’ perceptions of school lunch in comparison to our
previous study. However, there was a change in the students’ perception of friendliness of the
lunchroom staff. Our follow-up perception studies showed that the students found the staff to be
less friendly.
Strengths and weaknesses. Our biggest strength was our communication both as a group
as well as with the school staff. We were able to complete all areas of the research with minimal
complications. The kitchen staff was very helpful and we were able to establish a relationship
with them as well. The kitchen manager, Martha White, was very helpful and excited about all of
our implemented marketing strategies.
A few weaknesses we encountered included the student perception and lack of interest in
the school lunch program. It was then our goal to change that perception so more students would
want to participate in school lunch. Another weakness was the menu offerings provided for the
students. When we began the research in August, pizza was offered every day and was the most
popular menu item based on our data collection. Starting in September, however, pizza was
offered three days a week. Our biggest weakness was collecting the participation data. It was
difficult to decipher who had already completed a survey and which survey was completed. It is
possible there were multiple students who filled out surveys on consecutive days.

Running head: SCHOOL LUNCH ACCEPTANCE AND MARKETING

50

Suggestions for improvement. Suggestions to improve the study would include
refiguring and conducting the plate waste surveys. It was difficult to assess the correct amount of
portions of food eaten by the students thus not providing overly accurate data. Another
suggestion would involve collecting the participation data. Many students complained about
filling out surveys or would not fill them out.