SPOKANE, Wash. — A cardboard cutout of a costumed, cartoon dog promoted white milk as the best choice to K-8 students making their way through a lunch line.
First-graders Emma Krieger and Hailey Huff liked the suggestion, both choosing white milk over strawberry or chocolate. “I felt it was healthier,” said Huff, 6. “Tomorrow, I’m going to have the same kind of milk.”
The dog is Captain Canine, a student-named mascot for a new lunch program that launched Monday at Summit School in Spokane Valley. The grant-funded Smarter Lunchroom Design pilot program is a collaborative effort between Washington State University Spokane County Extension Food Sense, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and participating Washington school districts.
Summit is one of 23 schools statewide using strategic marketing to help kids make better food choices. University and Progress elementary schools in Central Valley School District will start the program next week.
“It’s a nudge, not a shove,” said Denise Kwate, a Central Valley School District nutrition services supervisor. Often students are told they “have to take fruit. I want to create an environment where students want to take the fruit and eat the fruit because the fruit is good for them.”
The concept is based on a study that shows creative naming, signage, displays and a little persuasion leads kids to think about what they eat. For example, researchers at Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition found creative naming and display of vegetables increased selection from 40 to 70 percent.
Additionally, students are 11 percent more likely to choose a promoted item if they still have all the same choices.