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You are likely to have heard this old proverb: 'If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.' But what do you do [...]

Motivation: School feeding programmes employ more than 4 million people globally and have the potential to contribute to the realization of multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including decent work and reducing inequalities. However, the working conditions and experiences of workers in these programmes have received little attention from academics and policy‐makers alike. Consequently, it is currently unclear what the impacts of the employment generated are and whether this employment reduces or perpetuates inequalities. Purpose: This article examines the extent to which school feeding programmes can generate beneficial employment by examining the experiences of cooks in the world's largest school lunch programme, India's Midday Meal Scheme. The article focuses on five key areas: who is employed; their pay; their workload; their access to social protection; and the effects of privatization. Approach and methods: To examine these five areas, data from three sources are combined: primary data collected in Rajasthan; state‐level secondary data; and the analysis of national‐level documents. Findings: The findings show that national policy creates a system in which cooks in the Midday Meal Scheme are underpaid, undervalued, and overworked. These working conditions are underpinned by a series of assumptions and narratives which are all too common in perceptions of care work: that the work is unskilled, not time consuming, and motivated by altruism. The state's lack of regard for these workers is evident in the growing privatization of the scheme. Policy implications: Overall, the findings show that policy on school feeding programmes, including those in India, needs to ensure that those working in the scheme are treated as employees and receive sufficient pay and benefits. Providing decent work in these programmes has the potential to not only reduce poverty and inequalities but also to improve the implementation of school feeding programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This descriptive-correlational study scrutinized the operations management and senior high school students' satisfaction with the canteen inside the Mabolo National High School. Also, the relationship between the two variables was explored. Four hundred eighty-nine (489) respondents were chosen conveniently to participate in the data gathering using a modified tool validated by the experts and obtained 0.7346 internal consistency. Weighted mean and Pearson correlation coefficient were employed to analyze the data and yield valuable findings. Findings revealed that students were satisfied with the personnel's treatment, the proactive approach of the canteen to provide fresh and healthy products, the products being served, and the processes of the canteen to maintain quality service. Also, the study found that the operations management practices in the canteen have a significant relationship to the students' satisfaction. Improving operations management is critical in meeting customer needs and leading to satisfaction. Consequently, maintaining and enhancing customer satisfaction can be attained by ensuring that the quality of products, processes, employees, and proactive measures is exceptional. Furthermore, future researchers can pursue other variables, such as canteen facilities, food prices, food tastes, and food preferences, for future studies as they might influence overall customer satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the significance of accurate and current information for college admission counselors. It emphasizes the need for structures that allow counselors to access information about academic programs, student services, and the strengths of institutions. The article acknowledges the challenges faced by high school counselors in obtaining information and suggests ways for colleges to efficiently provide information to counselors. It underscores the importance of providing factual and positive information to prospective students and their families. The article also discusses the challenges faced by high school counselors in gathering and sharing information about colleges and universities with their students, and suggests strategies such as meeting with various departments, conducting interviews, and utilizing centralized platforms for information sharing. [Extracted from the article]

This study examines the degree to which retailers' lunch meal deal promotions meet the UK government's One You campaign recommendation of 600 kcal for lunch. In parallel, the government are encouraging companies to reduce the calorie content of food and banning promotions encouraging overconsumption. Public policy intervention ladder models are used with upstream social marketing to consider how these government actions might affect companies and consumers' freedom of choice. A census of the calories of lunch meal deal items in five stores was conducted to determine the degree to which they met the 600 kcal recommendation. 23% of lunch meal deals exceeded the 600 kcal guideline, and on average contained 10% more calories. Actions to reduce calorie content and their impact on stakeholders' freedom are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research suggests the elementary school lunchroom is an important context for children's social development. Using a sample of 659 fourth-grade students in 10 public schools (50.7% female; 42.7% Hispanic/Latinx, 30.3% White, 10% Pacific Islander, 7.8% bi/multiracial, 2.2% American Indian, 2.2% Black, 1.9% Asian, and 2.9% other), we examined the association between lunchroom-specific peer acceptance and internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression and social anxiety symptoms). We hypothesized that lunchroom peer acceptance would predict self-rated depression and social anxiety symptoms when controlling for social preference scores. Using hierarchical linear modeling, results indicated self-rated lunchtime peer acceptance scores in December significantly predicted depression symptoms in May when controlling social preference scores and accounted for changes in depression scores across a school year. However, some significant gender differences emerged. Results suggest that elementary school lunchroom interventions should attend to children's perceptions of lunchroom likability and their experiences of depression symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex value of schoolmeals for children and families is well documented. In Italy, school cafeterias have been an instrument of social policy since the end of the Second World War. Thereafter, school cafeterias have acquired several functions in the areas of children's health and wellbeing, education, social inclusion, support to local and quality agriculture, and environmental sustainability. In particular, the goal of a nutritious and balanced diet has been emphasized in recent decades, since malnutrition and food insecurity have been increasing in Italian society. During the pandemic, Italy was the first European country to implement a nationwide lockdown and one of the high-income countries where schools closed for the longest period. In this work, we use in-depth interviews with representatives of the school catering service, both from the major catering companies and the biggest municipalities, to analyze what happened in the management of the Italian school catering service during the pandemic crisis. In addition, a review of public recommendations issued during the pandemic has made it possible to analyze their compliance with the state guidelines for school catering and food education. The results highlight how the system reacted extremely slowly to the crisis and how the measures taken led to a deterioration of the value that has always been attributed to state school cafeterias, especially in terms of children's food security and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While numerous studies have explored the correlation between the built environment and ride-hailing demand, few have assessed their nonlinear interplay. Utilizing ride-hailing order data and multi-source built environment data from Nanjing, China, this paper uses the machine learning method, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), combined with Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) and Partial Dependence Plots (PDPs) to investigate the impact of built environment factors on ride-hailing travel demand, including their nonlinear and threshold effects. The findings reveal that dining facilities have the most significant impact, with a contribution rate of 30.75%, on predicting ride-hailing travel demand. Additionally, financial, corporate, and medical facilities also exert considerable influence. The built environment factors need to reach a certain threshold or within a certain range to maximize the impact of ride-hailing travel demand. Population density, land use mix, and distance to the subway station collectively influence ride-hailing demand. The results are helpful for TNCs to allocate network ride-hailing resources reasonably and effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, there are over 32,000 schools, representing great potential for climate protection. On the one hand, this applies to educational work, as understanding the effects of climate change and measures to reduce GHG emissions is an important step to empower students with knowledge and skills. On the other hand, school buildings are often in bad condition, energy is wasted, and the possibilities for using renewable energies are hardly used. In our "Schools4Future" project, we enabled students and teachers to draw up their own CO2 balances, identify weaknesses in the building, detect wasted electricity, and determine the potential for using renewable energies. Emissions from the school cafeteria, school trips, and paper consumption could also be identified. The fact that the data can be collected by the students themselves provides increased awareness of the contribution made to the climate balance by the various school areas. The most climate-friendly school emits 297 kg whilst the school with the highest emissions emits over one ton CO2 per student and year. Our approach is suitable to qualify students in the sense of citizen science, carry out a scientific investigation, experience self-efficacy through one's own actions, and engage politically regarding their concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Share tables (ST) are tables or stations in school cafeterias where students can return unopened foods and beverages, providing an opportunity to access these items at no cost. Currently, research suggests that milk is among the most wasted items in breakfast and lunch programs in the United States. Share tables present a simple solution for reducing milk waste, but research is needed to understand the microbial spoilage potential of milk in ST. To this end, uninoculated milk cartons and milk cartons inoculated with 2 to 3 log 10 (cfu/mL) Pseudomonas poae , a fast-growing psychrotroph, was exposed to ambient temperature during winter (mean temperature = 20.3°C) and summer (23.1°C) for 125 min, repeated over 5 d (the length of a school week). Microbial counts in the inoculated milk cartons increased linearly, exceeding the spoilage threshold of 6.0 log 10 (cfu/mL) after d 3 and after d 4 in the winter and summer season trials, respectively. In the winter trial, the microbial counts for uninoculated milk cartons never exceeded the lower limit of detection, 2.31 log 10 (cfu/mL), and in the summer trials, microbial counts never reached the spoilage threshold, indicating that initial contamination is a driving factor of microbial milk spoilage. Regardless of sharing status or seasonality, the greatest changes in counts for inoculated milk cartons occurred during overnight refrigeration, ranging from 0.56 to 1.4 log 10 (cfu/mL), while during the share table ranged from no observable change up to 0.29 log 10 (cfu/mL), emphasizing that school nutrition personnel should focus efforts on tightly controlling refrigeration temperatures and returning milk to refrigeration as soon as possible. A previously developed model for school cafeteria share tables was adapted to understand the typical residence time of milk in a simulated cafeteria with an ambient temperature share table for the summer and winter seasons over 1,000 wk. Milk was predicted to have a very short mean residence time (85 min) regardless of sharing status or season, with 99.8% of milk consumed, discarded, or donated within the first 2 d. As a result, only 3 out of 451,410 and 6 out of 451,410 simulated milks spoiled in the winter and summer seasons, respectively. The data generated here can be used to inform science-based decision-making for including milk in share tables, or applied to any system where one might have to accept short-term unrefrigerated storage of milk to meet a waste reduction or food security goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood obesity rates are rising around the world. Given the number of meals that children eat at school, and the unique, independent decision-making context that schools provide, regulators use school cafeterias as an arena to combat childhood obesity. Rather than restricting access to certain foods, this research takes a novel approach and explores how undertaking a cognitively stimulating task right before selecting food influences children's choices. The results of a field study at a middle school cafeteria show that when children solve a math problem before choosing lunch, they select fewer and healthier foods. Thus, completing a math problem seems to activate a mindful approach to subsequent food choices. This exploratory research provides initial evidence of a school-based intervention to encourage healthier eating and suggests that school administrators might want to encourage children to perform cognitively stimulating tasks before meal or snack breaks. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated relationships between personality types and job satisfaction, and performance among school food service dietitians. An online survey was conducted on 200 school dietitians from March 1 to 31, 2022. Of the personality type factors, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were positively correlated with job satisfaction, whereas neuroticism was negatively correlated. Extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were positively correlated with job performance, whereas neuroticism was negatively correlated. Regression analysis conducted to determine the effects of personality types on job satisfaction revealed conscientiousness predicted satisfaction with items of the job, agreeableness predicted satisfaction with supervisor’s supervision, and extraversion predicted satisfaction with colleagues. On the other hand, neuroticism was a negative predictor of satisfaction with the job, supervisor’s supervision, colleagues, and work environment items. Analysis of the effects of personality types on job performance established that openness was a positive predictor of satisfaction with roles of the organization and team, and of conscientiousness for the job, innovator, and organizational roles. In contrast, neuroticism negatively predicted satisfaction with job role items. Further studies are required to explore these relationships more closely by incorporating other major factors related to personality characteristics, job satisfaction, and job performance of dietitians working in various fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematical modeling is a high-leverage topic; it is critical to students' participation in STEM education and supports civic engagement. Until recently, research on modeling at the elementary level has been underemphasized, particularly research on supports and challenges for teachers who engage in designing authentic modeling tasks. In this study, we employed qualitative case study methods to investigate how elementary teachers designed and implemented authentic mathematical modeling tasks, with an explicit focus on how their tasks evidenced different dimensions of authenticity. We analyzed three cases of teams of elementary teachers as they developed modeling tasks connected to school and community contexts. The three cases were: 1) a student-driven modeling task related to paper and plastic waste in a school cafeteria, 2) a modeling task based on authentic situations at a community-run resource center, and 3) a modeling task focused on designing and monitoring a school community-building art project. Our cases illustrate that elementary teachers can successfully design and implement modeling activities that utilize different entry points and evidence multiple dimensions of authenticity. Furthermore, we found that the specific dimensions of authenticity may vary depending on the design supports and curriculum challenges within each context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]