Student Voices Matter: Spring 2025 Student School Meals Satisfaction Survey Results
Student Voices: What They Think About School Meals
2025 Student School Meals Satisfaction Survey Results
Thank you to the over 1,000 students who shared their thoughts on school meals!
Here's what we learned:
Meal Participation & Preferences
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Most students eat school lunch regularly:
- 444 students eat daily
- 394 eat a few times a week
- Nearly half (402 students) don’t know what's on the menu until they’re in line.
845 students get lunch from the school cafeteria; 210 don’t eat lunch at all.
Top sources for menu info: menus posted in cafeterias and word of mouth.
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Cafeteria staff received high marks:
- 528 said workers are always friendly
- 303 said most of the time
Healthier Options & Ideas
Vegetarian options need attention — 243 students said there aren’t enough.
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Most popular fruit/veggie picks:
- Whole fruit (593)
- Fruit smoothies (591)
- Sliced fruit (563)
Dipping sauces were requested, but only 385 students said they'd eat more veggies with them.
Student Suggestions
Students asked for:
- More variety
- Spicier or more flavorful meals
- Fresh and better-quality ingredients
- Changes to the lunchroom environment to improve the dining experience
Elementary School Survey Trends
What They Liked
Students described their favorite foods as:
- Orange chicken, pizza, and corn dogs were top mentions.
- They enjoyed meals that were flavorful, sweet, or crunchy.
“It has a lot of flavors — it’s sweet, a bit spicy and soft.”
“The corn dog tasted good.”
Common Complaints
- Pizza was often mentioned as a least favorite, described as bland or cardboard-like.
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Other issues included:
- Food being undercooked
- Lack of flavor or food being too cold
Cafeteria Staff Experience
- Most students said cafeteria workers are “Always” or “Sometimes” friendly.
- This indicates generally positive relationships, but a few outliers felt ignored or rushed.
Student Suggestions
Kids made simple, honest requests:
- Let us eat outside
- Add desserts sometimes
- Make it less noisy in the cafeteria
- Add more fruit
Middle School Survey Trends
This age group had the highest participation in the survey. This age group clearly has opinions and wants to be heard about their food!
Common barriers for not eating cafeteria food:
- They don’t like the taste (578 overall responses)
- Food quality concerns (488)
- Blandness and lack of flavor (454)
- Portion size complaints (especially "too small" – 254 responses)
Cafeteria Staff Perception
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Middle schoolers generally rated staff very positively:
- 528 said staff are always friendly
- 303 said most of the time
This suggests positive adult relationships in the lunchroom are a strong point.
Student Feedback Themes
From open-ended questions, students frequently requested:
- More flavorful options (e.g., spicy, seasoned, or culturally relevant meals)
- Better quality ingredients
- More variety — particularly in vegetarian and hot entrée choices
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Suggestions like:
- “Food needs seasoning”
- “Add more fresh stuff”
- “Let us help vote on menu items”
High School Survey Trends
- High school students gave more detailed and direct feedback, especially in open-ended sections
- Tone is honest, critical, and often solution-oriented
What They're Saying About the Food
Liked Items
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Favorites included:
- Tater tot casserole
- Mashed potatoes and gravy
- Chicken burgers
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Students appreciated:
- Hot meals that weren’t bland
- Veggies in salad or sandwiches
- “Decent tasting” food in comparison to other options
Least Favorite Foods
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Repeated complaints about:
- Pizza ("cardboard")
- Fish sticks, quesadillas, dry burgers
- “Too oily and not good”
- “Dry or just not the best tasting”
Why They Avoid School Food
Top reasons:
- Don’t like the taste
- Food quality is poor
- Lunch line is too long
- Small portion sizes
- Being forced to take items (like fruit) they don’t want
“Don’t make people take fruits by force — it goes in the trash.”
“The portions at the high school are the same as middle school — we need more.”
Cafeteria Staff Perception
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Mixed feedback:
- Some said workers are “Always” or “Most of the time” friendly
- Others said “Rarely”, and mentioned being yelled at or rushed
Student Suggestions
High school students had specific ideas:
- Ask students what they want via surveys or suggestion boxes
- Improve portion size
- Make sure food is hot and flavorful
- Offer more than “just bean burgers” for vegetarians
Nutrition Services will prioritize changes to the meal services experience based on grade-level feedback. Improvements are underway in menu planning, kitchen operations, and student outreach. Here are a few of those ideas:
- A “You Asked, We Listened” campaign will launch Fall 2025 to spotlight upcoming enhancements. We are working on what this will look like and the timeline. This could include ideas such as “tried it Tuesday” tasting events and tracking feedback from students and “You asked, We Listed” signage on items that are new or reformulated.
- Meatless Mondays - we will have this each month on the second Monday of the month. This will be a great way to highlight vegetarian entrees that we can highlight each month. Highlighting the items on a specified day will allow students to know what day to look for these new items. This does not mean this will be the only day vegetarian options are available. Items will be highlighted this day and nutrition is brainstorming a way for students to report back feedback on the item. More information coming as we get this planned.
- Work on communications to where the menu can be located and ways students can access this information before entering the cafeteria
- Work on food procurement to address things that were requested in the survey such as item variety, bigger portions for secondary students and a innovative ways to enhance the flavor profile of meals.
- Look for ways to enhance the overall cafeteria experiences.
