How to encourage kids to eat more vegetables from your school canteen

The research that informed this brochure

VegKIT is a 5-year project to develop tools and interventions to increase children’s’ vegetable intake. An analysis of 112 Sydney primary school canteen menus showed that 69% of the menu items did not contain vegetables. There were no substantial differences between government and non-government schools, schools of different sizes and schools in different socio-economic areas.

Interviews with canteen managers highlighted the key barriers to increasing children’s vegetable intake in canteens are:

• low acceptance or demand,

• perishability of produce, and

• time required to prepare.

To find out more, visit vegkit.com.au.Source: Beelen et al, 2020; Djakovic et al, 2019. References available upon request.

This brochure has been prepared by CSIRO, Healthy Kids Association and Nutrition Australia Victoria Division.

Suggested citation: Beelen, J., Heffernan, J.E., Broch-Cochet, M., Djakovic, S., Lausen, M. and Poelman, A.A.M. (2021) How to encourage kids to eat more vegetables from your school canteen.

Only 6% of primary school aged children eat enough vegetables for good health, and most vegetables are consumed at home at dinner time. Canteens can play a role in increasing children’s vegetable intake. There are over 5500 school canteens in Australia, and all of these canteens can have an influence on supporting healthy eating.

This brochure is aimed at primary school canteen managers and provides suggestions on how to increase the vegetable offering through primary school canteens. Good tasting products, making the healthier choice the easy choice for kids, and making preparation as easy as possible for canteen managers have been the leading principles for the suggestions in this brochure. Increasing vegetable content in this way can support a vibrant canteen with foods attractive for parents and students.

Introduction

1 Add veggies to dishes kids already love

Hot meals

1. Top pizza and garlic bread with vegetables. Add baby spinach, fresh tomato slices, zucchini slices or mushroom as toppings on pizza and fresh pesto (kale, rocket, spinach) to garlic bread.

2. Increase vegetable content of popular mixed dishes. Aim for mixed dishes to contain a variety of 4-5 different vegetables where possible.

- Pasta dishes: tomato, onion, carrot, mushroom, zucchini, spinach, asparagus

- Burrito or taco: tomato, onion, corn, carrot, mushroom, capsicum, lettuce

- Stir-fries or fried rice: onion, capsicum, broccoli, mushroom, green beans, asparagus, carrot, snow peas

3. Add vegetables to hot foods that currently contain no vegetables. Think about adding a vegetable side dish to meat pies and sausage rolls, such as mushy peas or corn on the cob. If making your own, several vegetables can be added without changing its taste too much (e.g. onion, garlic, mushroom).

Sandwiches, wraps and rolls

Adding vegetables to sandwiches is a great way to get kids to eat vegetables. To make it easy, add one salad veg in any sandwich with a cheese, chicken, tuna or ham filling with little changes to the price. You can stick to one vegetable of the day and add it across all sandwiches. Rotate the vegetable of the day throughout the week. That will save on preparation time.

Salads

Vegetables are already the hero in salads. You can make salads a more complete meal, by including a grain component such as pasta, rice, couscous or quinoa, or a protein component such as chicken or falafel. By doing this, parents and students may feel they are getting more ‘bang for their buck’ and would be more likely to buy a salad.

Snacks

Raw vegetables with dips. Vegetable sticks might already be on your menu. Selling them as a package with a colourful dip e.g. PURPLE (beetroot puree), GREEN (pesto, tzatziki, guacamole) or ORANGE (sweet potato hummus) can really make them fun and increase their appeal to parents and children.

Offer a Crunch & Sip pack. If your school participates in the Crunch and Sip program, create a new sales occasion by offering a combination of snacking vegetables and fruits in three different colours e.g. cherry tomatoes with orange capsicum and green pear sticks or celery sticks with red capsicum and apple slices. You may consider a subscription package for parents. Kids love to eat a rainbow!

Soups. Vegetable soups like pumpkin or tomato soup can be a tasty addition to the winter menu and can be loaded with vegetables.

New vegetable ideas that kids will love2

Ice blocks. CSIRO has created two new vegetable-based recipes that have been approved by children.

• Orange: carrot and orange

- This ice block is made of 100% juice and has a sweet/sour flavour that is familiar to children.

• Green: zucchini, choko, passionfruit and apple

- This novel and tasty ice block combines vegetable puree and fruit juice for a sweet and sour flavour and fun texture.

For recipes see the following pages.

Meal deals with veggies on the side

Offer a vegetable side dish in every meal deal. Examples include grated carrot with raisins, a small garden salad, corn on the cob, a coleslaw with yoghurt dressing, cooked broccoli or cauliflower florets with a cheese sauce, zucchini-corn fritters, green beans with a vinegar dressing, mashed vegetables (carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato), corn kernels with cheese melted on top, mixed beans, roasted sweet potato or beetroot, edamame.

Keep to 1-2 side dishes every week to ensure the canteen staff’s jobs are easier.

Ice block recipesNote: these recipes make 1.5L of juice which is enough to make 20 ice blocks of 75 mL each.

Carrot and orange

Method:1. Juice carrots into measuring jug and transfer to large

container/jar until you have 750mL carrot juice.2. Juice oranges, or pour bought juice, into a measuring jug,

until you have 750mL juice.3. Transfer orange juice to large container with carrot juice.4. Stir well to combine and pour into ice block molds, then

freeze (~6 hrs). Aim for 75mL portion (ensure portions don’t exceed 250mL.).

5. Serve frozen.

Equipment:

• Chopping board• Knife• Fruit juicer• Measuring jug (>500mL

capacity if available)• Large deep container/jar

(min. 2L capacity)• Large/long metal spoon

Ingredients:

• 15 large juicing carrots (washed and ends removed)

• 5-6 oranges (skin removed) OR, 750mL sweet fresh-tasting orange juice

Zucchini and passionfruit

Method:1. Let passionfruit defrost.

You will need 150mL juice, preferably with the seeds removed.

2. In a large pot with steamer insert, steam chokos for approx. 14mins until soft but still holding shape (you may need to do in batches). Let cool.

3. Blitz raw zucchini into a very fine puree until you have 260g and transfer to large jar/container.

4. Once choko is cool, weigh out 790g and blitz into a puree. Add to zucchini puree.

5. Add 150mL passionfruit juice (preferably no seeds) and 300mL bough apple juice to the vegetable purees.

6. Stir well to combine and pour into ice block molds, then freeze (~6 hrs). Aim for 75mL portion (ensure portions don’t exceed 250mL).

7. Serve frozen.

Equipment:

• Chopping board• Knife• Blender / food processor /

Nutribullet• Large pot with steamer

insert• Measuring jug (>500mL

capacity if available)• Large deep container/jar

(min. 2L capacity)• Large/long metal spoon

Ingredients:

• Approx. 1kg chokos (washed, cut in ¼ with seed removed)

• Approx. 270g zucchini (washed with ends removed)

• Approx. 300g bought frozen passionfruit with no additives

• 300mL bought cloudy apple juice

Make vegetables happen3Promotion

Make sure it’s fun!

Avoid promoting vegetables as good for health as this will steer children away from them. Rather, focus on fun, enjoyment and good taste in promoting your menu items with vegetables. Give your meals/snacks creative names to appeal to children, e.g. Captain Capsicum, Queen Pea, or use characters or offer a fun sticker when they purchase vegetable products. You can also organise a competition for students to come up with new ideas for dishes or how to promote them. For ideas and resources, see www.superherofoodshq.org.au/shop/.

Promote changes in your menu to parents and students through your regular channels (e.g. newsletter, app) or a poster at the canteen.

Taste testing with students

Involve your students in taste testing two or three options to choose the winning new recipe. Students are more likely to ask their parents to purchase those once they have tasted it and know they like it. This is also a way to attract new customers and to make the canteen a vibrant part of the school.

Pricing

Swap some protein for some vegetables to save costs. Cutting back on meat in a sauce, e.g Bologonese, and replacing it with vegetables like grated carrot and zucchini is a good way to fill the dish out and increase vegetable intake. You can save money as meat can be more expensive than some vegetables.

Ensure your pricing strategy supports choosing vegetable-based dishes. Menu analysis across 112 NSW canteens showed that sandwiches with a vegetable filling and salads were more expensive than sausage rolls and meat pies. Set margins to be higher on foods such as meat pies and sausage rolls so that meals and snacks containing vegetables are more likely to be chosen.

Save time

Frozen and canned vegetables

Frozen and canned vegetables are an affordable way to increase the vegetable content in meals. Always keep frozen onions, kale, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, canned tomatoes and corn kernels ready to use in your dishes. The Healthy Kids Association Buyers Guide lists suppliers that deliver frozen and canned vegetables.

Pre-cut vegetables

Several vegetables can be bought pre-cut or grated. Perhaps you can work out a deal with your local greengrocer to buy in bulk and save costs. Try diced or grated carrots for Bolognese, spiralised zucchini and diced pumpkin for salads. 

Healthy Kids Association Registered Products:

Everyday and Occasional

NSW School CanteenBuyers’ Guide 2021

This project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the vegetable research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture. The project is underpinned by a consortium of members from CSIRO, Flinders University and Nutrition Australia Victoria Division.

Children taste foods slightly different to adults. They perceive foods as more bitter and less sweet.

Adding a salty condiment or sauce helps mask bitter taste.

Children learn to like a food by repeatedly being exposed to it. Intake of small amounts is sufficient.

Fast facts