School Meals for All Research and Trends: Measuring, Evaluating and Assessing Lunch Success

Your school is participating in SMART-MEALS, a study about school meals. You are invited to participate as well!

Children in cafeteria eating school meals. Photo credit: USDA.

Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, California was the first state in the nation to invest in providing school breakfast and lunch at no charge to all public and charter school students in grades TK-12—School Meals for All.
SMART-MEALS—School Meals for All Research and Trends: Measuring, Evaluating, and Assessing Lunch Success—is part of a broader multi-year study of California’s School Meals For All.

School meals can optimize students’ academic experiences, as hunger and unhealthy eating can impact children’s health, behavior and their ability to learn.
Studies show that school meals are the healthiest meals US children consume, on average, and School Meals for All provides consistent access to healthful meals at school.

Each school will receive feedback about what our study finds is contributing to the successes and challenges of school meal programs both at their school and others (not identified by name). The goal is to optimize the program going forward.
Each school also will receive $1,000 for their participation this year.

We aim to provide information about what investments, resources and other characteristics of schools and school meals are associated with improved school meal participation and student consumption of the meals.

The evaluation is being conducted at the request of, and with funding provided by, the State of California.

Your participation contributes to California’s School Meals For All program by helping to inform school nutrition programs throughout our state and nation.

If you are a...	What?	How much time?
Food services director or other personnel	Online survey	30-45 min
School administrator, teacher or staff	Online survey	15-20 min
Parent	Online survey	15-35 min
Student in grade 4 or 5	Online survey ^{View a copy of the student survey for elementary school students in English and Spanish.}	10-15 min
Student in grade 7 or 9	Online survey ^{View a copy of the student survey for middle and high school students in English and Spanish.}	15-20 min
Some people who complete the above will also be asked to participate in the following. If you are a…
Food service director, principal, counselor, nurse, or teacher	Phone or video conference interview	45-60 min
Student (grades 7-12)	Phone or video conference interview	45-60 min

All: Your participation will allow us to share the benefits of the program from people in your position, and can help inform needed improvements. We will provide this information to program funders, implementers, decision-makers and others who can act upon the information you provide.
School district staff and teachers – your input will help us understand the benefits, challenges, experiences, perceptions, and impact of providing School Meals for All.
Parents – your responses will help us understand the impact School Meals for All has on your food security and stress, and other perceptions you may have about school meals.
Students – your responses will help us understand students’ overall diet quality, cultural preferences, and perceptions of school meals.

Learn more about the Nutrition Policy Institute’s School Meals for All evaluation and how this is part of a larger, national evaluation.
View the study’s timeline.
Please contact the research team at schoolmealstudy@ucanr.edu if you have any questions.

SMART-MEALS