How to promote “veggie-full” menu items

Encouraging children to try and consume more vegetables can come with its challenges. Currently, only one third of Western Australian school aged children aged between 2 – 15 years consume the recommended 5 serves of vegetables per day*. Canteens are a crucial part of the school food environment and can play a major role in encouraging healthy food choices and behaviours.

Below are some freshSNAP tips on how to promote “veggie-full” menu items. 

1. Make vegetables the easy choice:

• Display vegetable-containing meals at the top of a menu, as students are more inclined to purchase from the top.
• Include vegetables as part of the meal. Students are less inclined to add vegetables, but if they are already included, they are more likely to eat them.
• Create meal deals that include a serve of vegetables. For example, a create a bento box with AMBER chicken nuggets, celery and carrot sticks with hummus and a piece of fruit.

2. Ensure pricing is supportive of vegetable-containing meals:

• Encourage students to purchase nutritious options by decreasing the cost of GREEN items. This can be achieved by increasing the cost of AMBER items to offset the difference.
• Use frozen, canned or in season vegetables to keep prices down.

3. Promotion:

• Give menu items fun, quirky names.
• Create veggie-packed weekly specials.
• Create competitions for students to come up with new dishes with a different hero vegetable.
• Promote veggie-packed menu items in the school newsletter or on posters at the canteen.

4. Involve the school community:

• Encourage students to taste test foods and use vegetables or herbs grown in the school kitchen garden in canteen meals.
• Give students the chance to vote on new menu items.