Survey: Fieldwork

Background:

This survey was passed out to 9th- 12th graders a Lafayette High School, Jamestown High School, and Warhill High School in Williamsburg VA. The purpose of choosing these schools was to see if the patterns found nationally dealing with school lunch made sense. I received 276 responses back. It was from a convince sample, taking place during the students lunch period.

Results:

Question	Pack	Buy	Both
Do you pack or buy your lunch?	136/276~49%	56/276~20%	84/276~30%
What is the average daily cost of your lunch. If you’re not sure estimate it.	$5.35	$2.25	$4.80
On a scale of 1-10 how healthy would you rate your average lunch, 10 being the healthiest and 1 being the unhealthiest ?	6.2	4.1	5.5
How many times a week on average do you have a fruit with your school lunch? (0-5)	3.9	4.2	4.3
How many times a week on average do you have a vegetable with your school lunch? (0-5)	1.8	2.6	2.4
Do you think lunches packed from home are healthier? ( answer is the percent who said yes)	130/136~96%	54/56~96%	77/84~92%
On a scale of 1-10 how often are you able to find options you want to eat in the school lunch line, 10 being always, 1 being never.	N/A	6.9	4.5
If you bring your lunch, who prepares it?	Myself: 98/136Mom: 37/136Dad:1/138	N/A	Myself: 68/84Mom:16/84
What percent of your lunch do you estimate you throw away on average a day.	14%	26%	20%

10. What are some stereotypes about school lunch? (open ended question)

Most common answers:

•  It tastes bad 68% of students
• It is unhealthy 38% of students
• It is cheap 18% of students 

Key Takeaways:

• The majority of students seem to bring their lunch to school, at least sometimes.
• Students estimated their lunch was more expensive if it was packed than those estimates from students who buy
• Students who pack their lunch seem to think it is healthier than those who buy, however students who buy lunch have higher averages of their lunch containing both fruit and vegetables
• Students have fruit more often a week with their lunch than vegetables, regardless of if they pack or buy lunch
• Both students who pack, and who buy their lunch overwhelmingly believe packing school lunches is healthier
• Students who buy their lunch everyday are more able to find something they want to eat in the lunch line, compared to students who both pack and buy their lunches. 
• Most students pack their own lunch, but if they don’t it would most likely be their mom packing it. This probably varies greatly from elementary school students who are not old enough to pack lunch yet.
• Students to buy their lunch estimate to throw away more of their food.
• The most written serotypes with school lunch are all negative