sin eng-51 - healthy eating in ri
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Raffles Institution
Design for Change School Challenge 2011
Increasing healthy food choices in the Raffles Institution school canteen, and subsequently,
promoting healthy eating habits among Raffles Institution students.
Team Leader :Jovi Tan (2L, 9)
Team Members :Justin Hou (2L, 10)
Pua Min Xin (2L, 22)
Alden Tan (2L, 25)
Teacher-Mentor: Ms Stephanie Lee
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank:
1. Ms Stephanie Lee, for being our mentor and doing her best to help us improve and
complete this project.
2. All our survey respondents for taking time to do our survey and helping to contribute
to a part of our research project.
3. The students who participated in our action week for supporting our research project.
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Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ............................................................................................ iii Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Background Research ..................................................................... 3 Chapter 3: Preparation for Action Week
Part 1 – Brief Description of Action Plan ...................................................................................... 6
Part 2 – Survey .............................................................................................................................. 7
Chapter 4: Action Week ................................................................................... 13 Chapter 5: Reflections ..................................................................................... 17 Bibliography ................................................................................................... 19 Appendix 1: Survey Results ............................................................................ 20
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Chapter 1: Introduction We are a group of Year 2 students doing our Research Education Project. As an
initiative from the school, Design for Change was introduced to us as an option for our
Research Project. Although there were many other modules in which we could have taken part
in, we chose Design for Change. Considering all the members of the group hold high grades
and strong interests for science, this is somewhat surprising. However, we felt very inspired
by this initiative and this cause. We are aware of how it all started with just a small step
forward, and how it has grown and bred itself into an international-scale initiative. This really
moved us, because as mere students, more often than not, we feel underused and that if we
were tasked, we could do so much more. This project gave us the opportunity and inspiration
to work on some of the pressing issues that we as Rafflesians spot. Additionally, it gave us the
idea like we were the architects of the brighter age. If the architects decide they lacked
initiative, then what would become of the future? What made us realize all this was the video
that was shown to us. We felt greatly moved and thus were inspired to bring forth what
changes we wanted to see.
Our RE research topic is to investigate if the student body of Raffles Institution is
aware of the level of healthiness school food possesses, and to attain a better understanding of
what they are doing about it. Our research is a part of a larger project for Design for Change,
in which we are planning to take action to help encourage healthy eating in Raffles Institution
and hope that the spirit of healthy eating spreads elsewhere as well. Our research assists our
project because in finding out how students are trying to eat healthy, we can analyze their
methods and come up with more sound and effective methods for them to successfully eat
healthy. Another segment of our project is to educate the student population about the
importance of eating healthy and to raise awareness of the level of healthiness of the food sold
in school. Thus, we have to find out if students even know about healthiness in the first place,
so we can derive effective methods to educate them.
Our scope for this project sets parameters at the Raffles Institution (Year 1-4 campus)
canteen and the Dining Hall, catered by ICS. This is so that we can limit the target audience to
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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the Year 1-4 students instead of expanding it to the Junior College students in the Year 5-6
campus.
The current situation of the canteen in Raffles Institution is that there are very little
healthy food choices in the canteen. Of the eleven stalls in the school canteen (including the
Pop Café), there is only one fruit stall and one vegetarian food stall (which has recently closed
down). The fruit stall is mostly not patronized, except by teachers, who seem to be more
concerned and aware of eating healthy. The vegetarian stall, though also mostly untouched by
students, is not healthy either. Despite what it suggests, the vegetarian stall is not all healthy.
Most of the vegetables are fried or cooked with massive amounts of oil – the only healthy part
about this is the vegetables itself. Some of the other things the vegetarian stall sells are hash
browns, and fried bean curd. As such, we realize that the school does not provide any healthy
eating options, and we were wondering if the student body was aware of this fact. Also, this
research affects the eating habits of almost all of the 2000 students in the Year 1-4 side of
Raffles Institution. Thus, the impact it aims to enforce is large and could affect many in the
years to come. Also, one of the more highly patronized stalls is the Pop Café, which is basically
a stall that caters to people who are willing to pay a lot for food that is highly deep fried. This
gave us the idea that we could ask stalls to provide healthy options, and on top of that, lower
the prices such that students are encouraged to buy the healthier option. Thus, we figured that
the scope for this issue is wide and its impact on the school and its population would be vast
and important.
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Chapter 2: Background Research
During the course of the project, we had to conduct background research to find out
more information about the perception of healthy food of the Raffles Institution student
population who had meals in the Raffles Institution school canteen. As the project focused on
the healthy food situation in the Raffles Institution school canteen, we had to conduct a survey
and did observations in the Raffles Institution school canteen to find out the eating habits of
typical Raffles Institution students who dine in the school canteen. We did not have access to
information that would help us such as similar research done in Raffles Institution. However,
we managed to find articles on the internet about successful healthy eating programmes that
have helped the menu of school canteens worldwide. For example, we found out that the
profits of canteen stall owners in an American school did not drop when they served healthier
portions. In fact, the students were more willing to eat from the canteen of the American
school.
Switching to healthier food options is a decision that has to be made by the canteen
vendors themselves, together with the Raffles Institution estate management. Also, the
students who had meals in the Raffles Institution school canteen also had to be receptive to
the changes in menu of the Raffles Institution school canteen. Therefore, we concluded that
profit and pricing would be the most important factor in influencing the canteen stall owners
to switch to healthier food, and to help encourage students in Raffles Institution who
consumed food from the Raffles Institution school canteen to purchase food items.
To confirm our hypothesis, we conducted a survey from Term 2 to Term 3 to find out
more about the healthy food situation in Raffles Institution school canteen. The survey was
given out randomly in the Raffles Institution school canteen, to Raffles Institution students
from various classes in Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4. The three intended aims of the
survey were to find out about the unhealthiest stalls in the school canteen, the popularity of
those stalls, and to find out about possible solutions to the healthy food problems, if there
were any complaints of the healthy food situation in the Raffles Institution school canteen.
Although we sought to give out 60 surveys, we realised that our goal was too optimistic and
decided to cut back the number of surveys collated by more than half, seeing that it was still a
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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sizeable portion of the Raffles Institution students that had their meals in the Raffles
Institution school canteen. Thus, we managed to collect back 25 copies of completed survey
forms from random students from the Raffles Institution student population who had meals
in the Raffles Institution school canteen.
After collecting all the surveys, we collated the results in a table. We began to spot
patterns in the results of the survey done on the Raffles Institution student population who
had meals in the Raffles Institution school canteen. The students who did the survey generally
felt that pricing of food mostly influenced their choices in the purchase of food from the
Raffles Institution school canteen menu. They also appealed to us, reporting that they want
more healthy choices in the Raffles Institution school canteen menu. Currently, most of the
food choices in the Raffles Institution school canteen menu are high in fat and sodium, which
will adversely affect student‟s health in the long term. Some stalls in the Raffles Institution
school canteen were also commonly marked as the unhealthiest by Raffles Institution
students who completed the survey, such as the Pop Café and Western Stall. Finally, we
noticed that the people who admitted that they do eat from these stalls who they marked as
unhealthy were alarmingly high. Thus, our hypothesis about the effect of pricing of food in the
Raffles Institution school canteen menu was confirmed. The questions we had about the
unhealthiest stalls in the Raffles Institution school canteen and the amount of people eating
from those stalls were also answered.
To supplement our survey done on the Raffles Institution student population who had
meals in the Raffles Institution school canteen, we also did observations on the Raffles
Institution student population who had meals in the Raffles Institution school canteen, due to
not achieving our goal of giving out 60 copies of the survey to the Raffles Institution student
population who had meals in the Raffles Institution school canteen, although we felt that the
amount of information from the survey was enough. Through observation of the school
canteen, we realised that unhealthy stalls such as the Pop Café were receiving large numbers
of customers, either from our friends or other Raffles Institution students who had their meals
in the Raffles Institution school canteen. The patrons of the Pop Café often bought finger food
such as fried chicken, or instant noodles. In some cases, heavily flavoured and coloured drinks
were bought, as well as ice-cream. Fruit juices, which were also sold in the Pop Café, were
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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having an extremely low sales rate. In fact, no one bought the fruit juices from the Pop Café in
the time we were observing the sales of items in the Raffles Institution school canteen. Each of
us also volunteered to purchase menu items from the Raffles Institution school canteen stalls
that were voted as the unhealthiest by the Raffles Institution students who took part in our
survey. These stalls in the Raffles Institution school canteen, mainly the Pop Café and the
Western Stall, sold common menu items in the Raffles Institution school canteen such as fries,
fried chicken, and pasta. The stalls stocked very little servings of healthy food such as
vegetables and fruits, with the exception of Pop Café, which stocked fruit juices, and the food
from the stalls were oily and covered in unhealthy servings of unhealthy sauces. Mostly, the
students who bought from these stalls in the Raffles Institution school canteen had already
finished their regular meals. Very little people bought the food for necessity to satisfy hunger.
Thus, we felt that these people who purchased menu items from the stalls marked as
unhealthy in our survey of the Raffles Institution school canteen made no effort to eat
healthily, as the healthiness of stalls such as the Pop Café and Western Stall was well known,
so the people who already had their normal meals could have not eaten any snacks at all. This
confirmed our survey results about the unhealthiest stalls, as well as the high number of
patrons of the unhealthiest stalls.
We came together and thought of various solutions to encourage the school canteen
stall owners to serve healthier food, and to encourage the students to eat the healthy food.
Some ideas include: a poster, brochures, lowering the price of healthy food, increasing the
price of healthy food, etc. Out of these, however, we only considered putting up posters to
encourage students to eat healthy food, making a morning announcement to get students to
be aware of the healthy food choices in the canteen, and talking face-to-face with the canteen
vendors to convince them to serve healthier options. The rest of the solutions were either
unfeasible, or had a low chance of success. Thus, we formulated our action plan based on the
background research we did in our school canteen.
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Chapter 3: Preparation for Action Week
Part 1 – Brief Description of Action Plan
After all our background research and preparation work, it finally came down to the
action week. We knew we had to have a detailed and plausible plan so we could carry out the
action week successfully and started to discuss. We were also aware that since we were going
to confront some of the stall owners, we had to be careful and polite with our words.
Everyone had a fair share of work to do and contribute. Our action plan included
putting up posters around the school to raise the awareness of the importance eating healthy,
to make an announcement during morning assembly to inform the students of our project and
most importantly, convince the stall owners to sell healthier foods and give incentives for
students to eat healthier. First of all, Alden, Justin and Jovi were tasked to talk to the stall
owners and convince them to sell healthier food on 2 separate days, 19th July and 29th July.
Justin created the posters, which were printed and put up on display for 3 days, from 19th July
to 21st July, for the school to see and be more aware of this situation.
Funding was not a problem as there are only a few posters that had to be printed. The
cost for printing was shared equally among the group members. As tasks were assigned to
each member, manpower did not prove to be a problem.
However, we must acknowledge that there were risks in this project. We had to ensure
that the canteen vendors agree to work with us; otherwise we would not be able to carry out
the project. We required the full co-operation of the canteen vendors to carry out this
project. Therefore, we started early and spoke to the canteen vendors in the week before we
carried out our action plan.
Our action plan involved a few parties, including the canteen vendors to work with us;
and the school to allow us to put up posters around the school blocks. Also we required the
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student body as a willing listener during the action week itself, when we were spreading our
cause and our message.
As part of our action plan, a survey was conducted to evaluate the school population‟s
perception on healthy eating. This is allowed us to better understand the school‟s current
status of healthy eating, and also will allow us to have an action plan to better suit the
students of the school. There were 26 responses and the majority of the respondents were
from Year 2 and 3, and are not in boarding, meaning that the majority of food options were
not restricted to dining hall meals.
Part 2 – Survey
Q1. In an average week, how many meals do you buy in RI?
From the results, it was found that the majority of Rafflesians eat canteen food 4-6
times a week, which is an average of once every school day (Refer to Fig 6.1). This question
allows us to find out how much of a typical Rafflesians‟ eating habits is influenced by the
school. If we are able to find a plausible solution to improve healthy eating in Raffles
Institution, there will be a great impact on the healthy eating habits of Rafflesians.
Figure 1 Average number of meals in the school a week
1 3
14
6
2
Meals in RI a week
0
1 to 3
4 to 6
7 to 9
10 and above
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Q3. Do you think there is a need to increase healthy food options in the school?
This question‟s aim was to find out if Rafflesians are interested in increasing the
number of healthy food options in the school. Out of the 26 respondents, 18 of them believed
that there was a need to do so, implying that the methods which the cooks use to cook the food
for Rafflesians are unhealthy, requiring change.
Q5. Are you and your peers making an effort to eat healthy? The question was to find out if Rafflesians bother to choose healthier options and eat
healthily, even though they are aware of the unhealthy cooking methods. Out of the 26
respondents, only 9 answered yes. This shows that though Rafflesians are aware of the
unhealthy cooking habits, they do not choose the healthier option.
Q6. How are you making an effort to eat healthy?
This question was meant for those respondents who answered „yes‟ in the previous
question. Out of the 9 respondents of the previous question, 8 answered this question. The
most common reply to the question is that they eat more vegetables. This tells us that we
should try to use fruits and vegetables in our action plan to prevent this.
Q7. Which of the following incentives would most appeal to you to eat healthy?
a) Discounts on healthier food
b) House Points
c) Extra free and healthier food in addition to purchased meals
d) Discounts on other areas
e) Raise awareness
f) Other:
This question helps us to find out the possible solutions that the student body wants us
to carry out to improve the healthy food situation in Raffles Institution. Due to the confusing
nature of the question, some respondents included more than one incentive. From a total of
26 respondents, there were 33 replies to the question (Refer to Fig 2). The results were that
most of the Rafflesians want either discounted or free healthy food. This would be the main
part of our action plan.
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Figure 2 Most appealing incentive among Rafflesians
Q8. Rank the following stalls from 1 to 12:
12 – serves the unhealthiest food; 1 – serves the healthiest (there should be 12
different responses):
Drink Stall
Has Design Cuisine
Aunty Azah
Noodle Store
Western Food
Mixed Rice
Chicken Rice
Japanese Stalls
Vegetarian Stall
Fruit Stall
Pop Café
Dining Hall
Due to the closing of the Vegetarian Stall, the option has been removed from analysis
and rankings accordingly changed. Also, due to the limitation of Halal options, respondents
whom have limited stall options would have their rankings accordingly changed as well. The
mean, median and mode for the stalls‟ rank has been recorded below.
12
3 12
4
2
0
Incentives to eat healthy
Discounts on Food
House Points
Free Food
Other Discounts
Raise Awareness
Other Incentives
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Students‟ perspective on canteen stalls
Stall Mean Median Mode
Drink Stall 4.72 5 5
Has Design Cuisine 6.83 7 4
Aunty Azah 6.88 7 9
Noodle Store 6.09 6 8
Western Food 8.70 9 10
Mixed Rice 3.78 4 2
Chicken Rice 5.91 6 2
Japanese Stalls 5.65 5 4
Fruit Stall 1.80 1 1
Pop Café 9.24 11 11
Dining Hall 6.68 7 11 Table 1 Student's perspective on healthiness of canteen stalls
From the results, we can see that most Rafflesians feel that the western food stall are
unhealthy stalls and the Fruit stall is one of the healthier stalls. This means that our action
plan should concentrate more on the unhealthier stalls to combat the problem.
Q9: Do you still patronise the stalls which you rank less than 10 (Unhealthier) in question 8?
Why?
The purpose of this question is to find out what are the reasons why Rafflesians do not
eat healthily. 73% of Rafflesians still patronise these stalls. There was significant proof that
most Rafflesians still patronise the unhealthier stalls because the food is tasty (Refer to Fig 3)
Figure 3 Reasons students continue patronising stall labelled as "unhealthy"
75%
13%
4% 4% 4%
Reasons for patronising "unhealthy" stalls
Tasty
Cheap
Variation of Food
Filling
Convenient
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Together with the data from the previous question, we can conclude that the Pop Café
and Western Food stalls are the unhealthier stalls, but Rafflesians still patronise these stalls
because they like the food served. To target this, our action plan should either make these
stalls healthier while still having the same taste, and at the same time make other stalls have
better tasting food.
Q10. Why do you regard the store you chose as healthiest to be the healthiest store?
This question was to identify the student‟s rational for naming stalls healthy, to verify it,
and also, with their answers, make the food at the school canteen healthier. Although some
respondents ranked the closed vegetarian stall as healthiest, their answer is still essential to
this research and towards the action plan. Most Rafflesians feel that the presence of servings
of fruits and vegetables are healthy. (Refer to Fig. 4)
Figure 4 Student's definition of "Healthy"
From this, we can try to convince stall owners to include fruits and vegetables in their
foods to improve the healthy eating situation in Raffles Institution.
52%
20%
12%
16%
Definition of "Healthy"
Fruits and Vegetables
Nutrition
Healthier option for Food
Healthy methods of cooking
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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In a nutshell, the results of our survey concluded that most Rafflesians feel that there is
a need to increase healthy food options, especially in the Western Food and Pop Café stalls.
The best way to do so is to provide monetary incentives, either discounted food or free healthy
food together with meals. Also, the student body feels that adding fruits and vegetables to
meals will help to improve the situation in Raffles Institution.
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Chapter 4: Our Action Week
1st Day
(18-7-11)
Preparation for Action Week
Created and Finalised Poster
Printed Poster
Raised awareness to student body
2nd Day
(19-7-11)
Put up Poster
Manning of Posters
Preparation of Explanation to students
3rd Day
(20-7-11)
Manning of Posters
Description of intricacies of projects to students who chose
4th Day
(21-7-11)
Manning of Posters
Planning for meeting with stall owners
5th Day
(20-7-11)
Settling of things we were going to say to stall owners
Speaking to POP café owner and assistant
6th Day
(20-7-11)
Speaking to Western stall owners
Viewing of reciepts of Western stall
7th Day
(20-7-11)
Speaking to Aunty Azar
Speaking to POP café owner a second time
We prepared for the Action Week in a few respects. First of all, we had to create a
poster large and presentable enough to be put beside other Design for Change projects in our
school. The poster was done by Justin and it was agreed upon by the rest of the group. After
which, we printed the poster. However, we weren‟t able to afford expensive printing paper, so
we just used 8 normal A-4 sized papers to print it out. We realise its not all about how it looks,
but rather more about the message and essense behind our words. If we feel for our topic, we
feel it is not so important that our poster looks very nice, but rather our words to be more
impactful. Lastly, we raised awareness to the student body by telling our friends about it and
asking them to spread the word.
The next day we put up the poster using the tape given to us, and we waiting for people
to come and view our product. At first we expected some sort of turn up, but we were
throughly dissappointed. No one came, and so the teacher in charge decided that we should
all prepare some ways to attract more students to view our hard work, and also prepare some
explanations to explain to people who do come.
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With the introduction of new attractions and increased spreading of the word, we had
more people who came to see our product. Thus, we had to describe to them our entire project
– its reasons, its goals, and our action plan. It is essentially a simple project, and thus was
easily understood. However, we could tell that everyone was moved that we were so interested
in improving conditions and to act upon it too.
The next day went largely the same, but it was different because we had to plan exactly
what to say to the stall owners who we were going to speak to. A big reason for this is because
we recognise the need to be polite and yet get to the point quickly. Therefore, we planned the
questions we were going to ask them, and also the order in which we were going to introduce
what the student population‟s opinion on their stalls. This was a difficult task because it was
difficult to keep the balance of respecting the stall owners, and yet getting straight to the point.
In the end, we did it.
We first spoke to the POP café owner and her assistant. What went on was that the POP
café stall owners tried to justify that their food was actually healthy. This is hard to believe
because all their food (even visually) have high oil and fat contents. Particularly, they sell
chicken that is deep fried everyday! And yet they still keep to the fact that they‟re food is
healthy without truly providing evidence. This told us, starkly, that they weren‟t sincere about
helping the students in their pursuit for healthy eating. It was also repulsive, the tone they
took while regarding this. They immediately turned defensive which led us to believe that they
were approached on this before. Their excuse, after we told them the student‟s perception of
the healthiness of their stall, was that they were a “café” and that cafes needed to have nice
tasting food rather than healthy food. We felt frustrated at this finding and thus resolved to
re-interview them on another day.
Next, we spoke to the Western stall. The stall owners looked very upset that we asked
them questions regarding health issues because they feel they have already tried the best to
keep their food healthy, while still striking the balance of good- tasting food. They showed us
their pans to prove quite distinctly the fact that they pan-fry their food instead of deep frying
it so that less oil is used. Also, they explain that only on Wednesdays do they sell anything
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deep fried. Additionally, when we pointed out that they have no vegatables on sale, they
mentioned that they grind their vegetables into pulp and use it as a base for their sauces. This
is their effort to balance good food and healthy eating. This is another option that we never
considered as a solution, that we could hide vegetables into the meals. They also mentioned
that they make a mandantory lettuce and tomatoes on the sides of their dishes and that they
put it on even when students say no. Lastly, they mention the quality of their food, and that
they buy expensive boneless, skinless chicken, and make their own bread because they don‟t
trust coporate quality. They proved this by showing us receipts for the boneless, skinless
chicken. When we introduced them the idea of lowering the prices of their more healthy
options, they shake their head regretfully and say that they would like to, but it is difficult to
even make ends meet because their stall isn‟t often patronised. We sympathise with their
predicament, and we do acknowlege that they are putting in a large effort in the aspect of
healthy food options. Thus, we feel students perception of this stall is flawed and should be
altered.
On the last day of our action week, we spoke to Aunty Azar. When we told her about
student perceptions, she told us that she didn‟t feel her food was the healthiest in the school,
but it definitely not very unhealthy as well. Like the previous stall, they only have deep fried
foodstuffs on Wednesday and they pan fry most things they sell. When we pointed out that
she has made attempts to provide vegetables in her meals, she acknowleges that. However,
when we pointed out the oil content in her food, she says that it was important that the food
still tasted good. She regards that her stall doesn‟t have dangerously high levels of oil. She is
trying to strike the balance between them already. She also says that it would be difficult to
change prices of her food because of the student‟s perception and the fact that the canteen is
still in a school mainly catering to students. Aunty Azar‟s stand and predicament is largely
similar to the Western stall‟s and we understand what they are going through as well.
Last thing we did for the action week was that we went to speak to the POP café owners
again to ask them to speak more about the things they feel when students make statements
that their food was unhealthy. However, she immediately denied us when she heard healthy
eating. Possibly, she also recognised us from the last time. This realy frayed our nerves
because we really needed her stand in this – her stall was voted most unhealthy. It is also
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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highly patronised. Thus, we needed to convince her. However, we had limitations of influence
and eventually could not get a word in with her.
Our action week is not as comprehensive as our action plan, however, as students, we
have limitations of time and resources, and it was difficult even to complete the tasks listed
above. Although we would really have liked to interview all the stall owners, we could not
work past our restrictions, and is one of our greatest regrets of this project. If it were possible,
or if other groups were to take our projects as reference in future, we hope that they would
bring this a step further in terms of depth of research.
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Chapter 5: Reflections
We succeeded in a few of our project objectives. We managed to have a better grasp of
the healthy eating situation in the school canteen, and we also managed to show the student
body our results of our research. We also managed to talk to some of the stall owners and
inquire about their apparently unhealthy cooing method.
However, we found out that the stalls had already done their best to promote healthy
eating, with the exception of the Pop Café, who refused to change and insisted that they were
doing the right thing by selling fried foods. We think that it is due to the Pop Café‟s wanting to
provide students with their favourite food, and not at all concerned about their health.
We feel that all of us were very committed and believed the cause as the impact of the
problem was quite huge and relatable. We also wanted to find a way to efficiently find
solutions to the problem.
We also feel that since we are classmates for two years now, we all understand each
other and so arguments and quarrels were kept to a minimum. However, we did have some
time constraints.
We also had trouble finding a time for all of us to meet up and discuss or talk to the
stall owners as a group due to our very different scheduling.
We definitely have learnt that even if we prepared quite well enough, sometimes things
still do not work out, and we should not be discouraged by it and still try to think
optimistically.
We also realised how a small voice could have its effect increase in magnitude.
For the improvement of the project, we feel that we should have decided on also
breaking the perception of the unhealthy stalls, as they were revealed to be healthy by our
research.
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Overall, I feel that we have done some impact to the school community by exposing the
truths about healthy eating within our school canteen.
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Bibliography Study: Kids will eat healthy school food. (25 November, 2007). Retrieved 2011, from USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-11-25-school-lunch_N.htm
Jovi Tan (9), Justin Hou (10), Pua Min Xin (22), Alden Tan (25) RE – Design for Change 2L Final Report
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Appendices
Appendix A – Survey Results