Most of us recall toting a lunch bag to school or lining up with our classmates to see what would appear on the plastic tray.
Like then, it may seem today’s school children would want candy, cookies or chips for lunch. Fortunately, that assumption appears to be incorrect.
According to a recent survey conducted by Crestline, a promotional products firm in Lewiston, Maine, fresh fruit ranks No. 2, only behind pizza, as kids’ top food pick. The survey results were based on a nationwide polling of parents.
“Parents want to pack fresh fruit and it’s something kids want. It’s happy medium,” said Matt Zajechowski, director of media relations for North Star Inbound, which conducted the survey.
As to why youngsters selected fruit over things like snack cakes, Zajechowski offered a few theories.
“I do think maybe they’re not getting enough fresh fruit at home and there’s other kids taking fruit to school,” he said. “They want to have what others have, whether they really like it or not. They want to be socially accepted.”
He also thinks parental example matters. Many adults were taught to abide by the Food Guide Pyramid while growing up and now offer fresh fruit to their children at home. A piece of fruit seems to be a natural part of lunch.
Encouraging Eating Fruit
For those who haven’t been encouraging fruit consumption at home, Zajechowski encouraged parents to keep fruit accessible to children — such as on the counter — so they can help themselves to a healthy snack.
Use appropriate lunch containers to protect fresh fruit from bruising. Isolate bananas from cold items.
“Be aware of shelf life and how to keep them as fresh as possible,” Zajechowski said. “If kids think it’s disgusting, they won’t eat it.”
Introduce children to fruit by offering it to them in appealing ways including colorful, bite-sized pieces.
He encourages parents to get involved with the school board regarding choices available to children who eat school lunches. If your farm raises produce that could be part of a school lunch program, getting involved in this process is necessary to sell wholesale to schools.
“For a farm to find a distributor partner that understands the farm-to-school programs is the most important thing to do,” said Maureen Ballatori, founder and CEO of Agency 29 in Rochester and Geneva, New York. “That will give them a step ahead.”
She said reaching the younger demographic may also mean growing the right size of produce — like smaller apple varieties. These fit into lunchboxes and offer a reasonable serving for a child.
This strategy can help parents better justify buying more produce since there’s more servings for the dollar and less waste compared with larger-sized produce servings. Value-added products can help fill this need with items such as baby carrots, apple sauce cups and mini cucumbers.
To keep kids interested in produce, it can also help to provide orchard tours and open house events so children can see where their food comes from. “New York Ag in the Classroom is a great organization that helps bridge that gap,” Ballatori added. As a child, she always loved when her farm hosted class field trips.
Justine Hays, registered dietitian and Senior Snap-Ed nutritionist for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County, New York, couldn’t agree more.
“Exposure to fruits and vegetables should include the other senses beyond taste,” she said. “The more exposure, the more positive experiences kids have, the more they want fresh produce.”
Her child’s school offered an apple sampling day in October called Big Apple Crunch, which measured the decibel of the crunch when biting into different apple varieties.
Hays believes positive experiences such as this and field trips to farm help children improve their enjoyment of fresh produce.
She also encourages farmers to reach out to their area’s school district food service provider to see if they’re involved with farm-to-school programs. Some may have grants for buying from local farms.
So why does she think fresh fruit is so popular with kids?
“It’s truly just a child’s preference,” said Hays, who said they’ve worked with districts across New York. “When we talk with café managers and food service, they say they don’t often serve cooked vegetables on the line. Kids may have texture preferences. Cooked broccoli doesn’t go as well as raw broccoli. The same is with carrots. They know the kids they serve so well.”
More From the Study
Additional findings include:
• Nearly 1 in 2 parents say the main reason they pack their child’s lunch is because they are picky eaters.
• For 1 in 4 parents, packing their child’s lunch is cheaper than allowing them to eat the school lunch each day.
• 1 in 20 parents pack their child’s lunch as a safety precaution due to allergies.
• 1 in 5 parents like to include colorful food picks in their child’s lunch. In addition, 1 in 6 parents say they enjoy using shape cutouts, and 1 in 8 will even use themes when packing the lunches.
• Nearly 70% of parents say they typically spend less than $5 on their child’s lunch. Coming in at an average cost of $4.39 each day, parents across the U.S. spend about $785.71 each year when packing their child’s lunch.
Click here for complete survey results.
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