Evaluating a new school food authority in new orleans: Implications for school-based nutrition

To conceptualize and deliver healthy school food initiatives, Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation, a nonprofit that supports social entrepreneurship, announced funding in 2012 for New Orleans public schools to serve healthier school lunches. Propeller's goal was to have 5,000 public schoolchildren eating healthier, delicious, and affordable school lunches that met strict nutritional standards. In response, certain New Orleans public schools developed a new School Food Authority and were given the monetary and administrative support to choose their Food Service Management Company independently of their school district. Conveniently selected schools were segmented into groups given their food service – improved lunches versus standard, lunches. The program evaluation consisted of two components and included grades K-5. Part One involved a rigorous analysis of school menus and production records to break daily meals down to a micronutrient level. This information will be compared to the federal and Propeller requirements for school meals to evaluate how well schools adhere to these guidelines. Part Two comprised of an in-depth Plate Waste Study of approximately 2,600 school lunches, and assessed the amount of food and nutrition actually consumed by students. Trained data collectors calculated average pre-lunch weights and post-lunch weights by removing and weighing uneaten food items left on trays. This is the first research to combine a menu analysis and plate waste study to quantify average micronutrient consumption among students and make comparisons between improved and traditional food vendors. Data on micronutrient composition of school menus and micronutrient consumption among students will be presented.