If your school was built with a cafeteria in the back of campus, you may struggle to increase breakfast participation. The world today is all about convenience and the younger generation knows that all too well. When Megan Moore, Director of Nutrition at Corona-Norco Unified School District, was looking for a way to make breakfast more accessible to students, she turned to the Cambro Vending Cart.
“We were just thinking, if we found a way to put a point of sale closer to the front of the school, would we be able to capture more students? said Moore. “It seems to be working.”
After implementing 12 Cambro Vending Carts at their middle and high schools, CNUSD have seen a 23% increase in breakfast participation.
“We’re excited for the increases,” said Moore. “When more kids are eating breakfast, everybody wins. We see decreases in behavioral issues and we see increases in student engagement.”
In order to attract students’ attention, CNUSD chose an eye-catching and functional design for the front of its cart.
“We went for silly at our district. We just love to embrace our kids and this was designed by our communications team; it has a QR code to our menus,” said Moore. “They like the QR codes because when they come in and grab their breakfast, they can see what’s on the menu for lunch as well.”
Not only are the carts more visible to the students, but so is the staff.
“[The students] also like seeing their cafeteria workers differently because at the secondary level, they’re behind a counter and a screen and the fly fans are going, and that’s not the case on the breakfast carts. They’ve really had a lot of fun with it,” said Moore.
Moore was able to continue offering the same menu as the cafeteria with the use of Cam GoBoxes®. Made with durable expanded polypropylene, the Cam GoBox is able to maintain safe hot or cold temperatures for at least four hours.
CNUSD was able to afford all of their carts and point of sale tablets thanks to a grant from No Kid Hungry.
“No Kid Hungry is a national anti-hunger organization. Our goal is to connect kids with the food that they need. One of the things that we do and one of our strategies is to partner up with school districts and provide grant funding to increase breakfast participation,” said Andrea Cuellar, program manager for No Kid Hungry California.
“It’s not just about breakfast. It’s about food security and helping students achieve their learning outcomes,” said Moore.
Click here to learn more about applying for a grant from No Kid Hungry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ADRIANA DESIDERIO IS THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER AT CAMBRO.
