Latinos Who Don't Lunch: Latino Student Participation in the School Lunch Program at the San Francisco Unified School District

• In Event: Poster session 2

Proposal

This research focuses on low participation of the San Francisco Unified School District’s lunch program, as it has reported that they have lower rates of participation in the school lunch program than the state average. The research aims to pinpoint the reasons behind low participation and find lasting solutions. The Future Dining Experience is the districts’ new attempt at combating highly processed and fast foods that are served to students in districts nationwide every day. The new program hopes to boost participation as well as serve nutritious and more natural foods to students during the school day.

Students at Mission High School have taken on this initiative for a capstone project course that helps them focus on issues that they want to solve in school. My role in this research is observing the classes as they handle this issue with the resources provided and holding discussions at the end of each class. I will discuss the findings and further analyze the existing data. I plan to particularly focus on Latino students in these classes and how culture is reflected in their participation in the school lunch program, since chronic diseases in youth have risen in recent decades, with Latino youth facing higher rates of chronic diseases than other ethnicities (Salud America, 2011).

Author

• Lisa Lynette Marquez, University of San Francisco