Flunking Lunch

Another canny strategy: let them think they are eating junk. When the West Orange — Cove school district in southeast Texas started wrapping its part-vegetable-protein, part-beef "burgers" in foil marked CHEESEBURGER, sales tripled. Even some of the fast-food chains are getting in on the act. Kids who order Little Caesars from their school cafeteria are now buying a slimmed-down slice with part-skim mozzarella and fewer rounds of pepperoni. Frito-Lay this fall began delivering Baked Doritos to schools, and in January it will launch Cheetos Reduced Fat snacks, which contain 50% less fat and were developed especially for schools.

Students and administrators have at least one thing in common when it comes to nutrition: both care deeply about the bottom line. An intriguing study by Simone French, an associate professor in the University of Minnesota's department of epidemiology, found that when a sample of high school cafeterias in her state halved the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables, purchases of baby carrots doubled; apples, bananas and oranges saw a fourfold surge. In Santa Monica, Calif., similar market forces are at play in 16 schools that offer children a choice of an all-you-can-eat farmer's-market salad bar. In the hot-meal line, it's one trip only. At the lunch bell, students race for greens and blanched broccoli. Says Tracie Thomas, the district's interim food-services director: "Instead of going to McDonald's, our students want to go to the farmer's market."