Have you been told "They won't eat it" and "It's too expensive" in response to wanting to improve the food in your school cafeteria?

Then we have good news for you! A study done by the University of Minnesota has found that school lunch sales don't decline when healthier meals are served. The study also shows that more nutritious lunches don't necessarily cost schools more to produce.

The study reviewed and analyzed data for 330 Minnesota school districts in order to make recommendations for improving the nutritional quality of school lunches for the state of Minnesota.

Some previous studies have shown that students demand less healthy meals and that healthier meals cost more to produce. This University of Minnesota study contradicts both of those findings, instead finding that nutritional quality is unrelated to both student demand and per-meal cost.

Nutritious meals may have higher labor costs, but the food costs decrease, keeping the overall budget the same. Schools may need a one-time equipment upgrade to be able to accommodate the preparation of the healthier meals.

The study also pointed out that school districts are allowed to charge their lunch programs for indirect costs such as electricity and janitorial services for their cafeterias. This can be abused by cash-strapped districts charging their lunch programs high overhead. The study recommended tighter limits on those charges.