A Pilot Intervention Targeting Dietary Intake in School Cafeterias.

Objectives: This study assessed fruit and vegetable (F&V) waste during school meals in two public elementary schools, and investigated the impact of a tasting intervention implemented in one of these schools.

Methods: F&V waste was evaluated before (baseline), immediately after (post-testing), and six weeks following (follow-up), the tasting intervention.

Results: The modal outcome at each assessment was that children ate all of the served F&Vs. During tastings, most children attempted and liked the offered F&Vs. No differences between schools in F&V waste were evident at post-testing; at follow-up, the intervention school had significantly less F&V waste than the control school.

Conclusions: Generally, students were consuming the F&Vs served. Policy impact might be enhanced via a low-intensity tasting intervention.