Lunch lady gets students to try new healthy food options

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Want to get your kids to eat vegetables?

A lunch lady from New York has cracked the code on how to get picky eaters to eat healthier foods like kale and beans. Donna Riviello, the food service director at Clyde-Savannah Central School District has helped kids try unfamiliar vegetables in school lunches like kale, sweet potatoes, and legumes.

Working with marketing tactics and taste testing trials in the schools lunch room, she has kids try out new vegetables and even has them pair it with other favorites.

A recent article states that some studies have shown it takes as many as twenty times for a kid to like new foods, and Riviello stated it usually takes students five to seven times to make up their minds about the new vegetables, saying that “There’s a psychology to it.”

Riviello was awarded and named the State’s Food Service Director of the year, and as she has helped the district to receive a grant that offers students in the school free breakfast, lunch and snack, and has also helped provide a “grab and go” vending machine that gives students full breakfasts options.

Studies have shown that Latino kids with stricter food and drink nutrition standards consumed fewer calories and less fat and sugar.

Encouraging healthier marketing in schools and decreasing unhealthy options could help increase Latino kids perceptions and taste preferences for healthier foods.

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