How to Increase Meal Participation with Beautiful Serving Lines

Never underestimate the power of the environment in school foodservice. If your cafeteria’s serving setting looks vibrant with eye-grabbing school colors, it can positively impact your students’ behavior.

Yes, it’s possible to drastically change your students’ outlook on school meals by transforming the environment in your cafeteria. Here’s how.

Inspire students to enjoy more school meals with visually stunning serving counters

When your cafeteria serving line looks more cold and sterile than inviting and warm, it could affect your students’ sense of self-worth. You wouldn’t want to eat in a dark, drab setting, would you?

But colorful serving counters, especially if they match your school’s aesthetic, create a cafeteria environment that students love.

“Three years after the update, we still see participation at approximately 46% higher than before the cafeteria redesign,” said Tonya L. Grier, the Child Nutrition Program Director at Dothan City Schools in Alabama.

Higher student participation means less food waste, lower costs per meal, and more federal reimbursements to establish a more sustainable meal program.

Give your students more education opportunities and set them up for success

School meals do more than give students something good to eat. When students fuel their bodies with nutritious meals every day, they put themselves firmly on a path to a more successful future.

That means there’s more at stake with participation rates than simply food waste.

Research shows that kids who enjoy school meals each day score up to 17% higher on standardized tests. The more your students walk into your cafeteria to grab a meal, the more they can stay on a trajectory to higher education and better career opportunities.

As a plus, a track record of high test scores and students going to college will also strengthen your school’s reputation as a leader in academics.

Get a meaningful ROI with durable and vibrant serving counters

Your priority is to make future-focused investments for your school. That’s why beautiful serving systems should be a long-term strategy — if you find the right manufacturer.

For example, LTI has a reputation for building vibrant serving lines for schools that can last for decades. Popular LTI product lines include:

ColorPoint: Built from virtually indestructible fiberglass, our extremely durable, modular serving counters tackle the daily demands of K-12 foodservice. Available in hundreds of colors, ColorPoint helps create an engaging and vibrant school cafeteria experience for decades.

SpecLine: Our modular serving counters are built, assembled and tested in our Georgia factory to make installation as simple, fast and trouble-free as possible. SpecLine is a durable cafeteria counter available in laminate or stainless steel bodies to match your school’s aesthetic.

SelectLine: Our premier counters can be customized to fit your space perfectly. Available in angled or rounded fronts, SelectLine features a laminated plywood cabinet style for an enduring, classy aesthetic.

“With visually stunning serving counters built to last for decades, schools can draw in more kids for decades,” said Audrey Casey Pearson, Chief Brand Ambassador for LTI.

More Resources
For more information about how serving systems positively impact schools, visit our K-12 page or access our in-depth educational guide, “The Impact of Transforming Your K-12 Cafeteria: How Beautiful Serving Counters, Mobile Grab-and-Go Carts & Flexible Serving Systems Inspire More Meal Participation.”

If you have any questions or would like to request a quote, reach out to the LTI team and we will quickly respond.