School Food Culture and the Future of Plant Menu Choices: A Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

School menus in Nova Scotia are predominantly planned around meat-based ingredients. This is of concern as it relates to childhood obesity rates, diabetes and at risk factors for cardiovascular disease; statistics in all of these areas are trending upwards. There is a growing body of research to support plant-based diets to interrupt these trends. A qualitative research study was completed to: A) understand the perspectives of school administrators, head of schools, teachers, food service staff and support staff regarding school community receptiveness to plant-based options; B) to understand the awareness of the connection of plant-based choices to affordability and better human and planetary health outcomes; and C) to understand the existence of food service cooking skills, menu planning knowledge and abilities with plant-based ingredients. The research question was the following: how might school food culture be shifted to incorporate sustainable plant-rich menu planning while learning to improve human, and planetary well-being? The Chronic Care Model frames the study because it focuses on improving health outcomes for people at risk for chronic disease. Using the SWOT categories: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, data were entered into one of the four categories. The researcher spent considerable time reflecting on the data, repeatedly reviewing the literature and then analyzing the data in effort to identify overarching themes and subsequently create a prioritized list of SWOT strategies that could be implemented by the schools. Themes and strategies were then discussed with participants to verify and to allow them to recommend changes. This process was slow and deliberate in efforts to end up with prioritized strategies that were practical, and usable SWOT strategies that supported the Chronic Care Model approach. A demographic questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from seven school personnel participants from two private schools in Nova Scotia. Participants were able to review summarized research themes and strategies by email for practicability and relevance to school environments. SWOT findings revealed 27 core themes which were carefully analyzed to create 15 strategies to put research findings into action. Strategies included: the creation of a school cooks’ network, local bulk food ordering partnerships, internal plant-based expert lists, school culture cookbook, school menu input forms, plant-based cooking kits, partnering students with school cooks for food skills development, mystery food boxes, an electronic plant-based file, plant-based guest speaker/field trip lists, school and cafeteria plant-based policies, class/family plant-based challenges, plant-based newsletters/posters to source grant opportunities and to track plate waste of vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. Implications for use of plant-based menu choices in the school system included the possibility for cooperation between educators, students, food service staff, parents and guardians and registered dietitians.