This small set of studies offers evidence that garden-based learning does not negatively impact academic performance or FV consumption and may favorably impact both. Additional studies with more robust experimental designs and outcome measures are necessary to understand the effects of experiential garden-based learning on children's academic and dietary outcomes.

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Objective: To examine characteristics potentially associated with school lunch fruit and vegetable waste, both overall and pre/post implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Design: Multi-year (2010Multi-year ( -2013 cross-sectional study using pre-and post-meal digital photographs of students' school lunch trays to estimate fruit and vegetable availability and consumption. Fruit and vegetable items were categorized for factors suspected to impact waste: prior farm to school years, placement (main menu, salad bar), procurement (local, conventional), preparation (cooked, raw) and meal component (entrée, side, topping). Analyses to assess within-category differences in waste volume were performed using a Tobit model. Setting: Wisconsin elementary schools participating in farm to school programmes, USA. Subjects: Children in third to fifth grade. Results: Many within-factor differences were detected overall and/or across time. Cooked fruits were wasted less than raw, while cooked vegetables were wasted more than raw. Where identified, locally sourced items were wasted more than conventionally sourced (+0·1 cups, P < 0·0001) and salad bar items more than main menu items (+0·01 cups, P < 0·0001). Increasing prior farm to school years decreased waste (−0·02 cups, P < 0·0001). Items previously tried were wasted at the same volume whether reported as liked or not. New school lunch meal pattern requirement implementation did not uniformly impact fruit and vegetable waste across all categories and there was no change in waste for seven of fifteen assessed categories. Conclusions: Many factors impact elementary students' school lunch waste. These factors may be helpful for school food-service authorities to consider when planning school menus. Keywords Fruits and vegetables School lunch Food wasteThe prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents has grown over the past three decades, recently reaching 17 % (1-3) , over half of the adult obesity prevalence rate, which stood at nearly 36 % in 2009-2010 (3) . Obesity and related co-morbidities have public health as well as economic implications (4,5) . Because of this high prevalence, public health personnel and medical professionals emphasize the importance of consuming a healthy diet (6) . Few children meet consumption recommendations for fruit and vegetables (F&V) (7) . One strategy hypothesized to help achieve this is improving the quality of school meals. These efforts include promoting increased consumption of low-energy-density foods such as F&V which, on the basis of high water and fibre content, alongside their low fat content, collectively yield larger bulk and low energy density. Although the positive effects of low-energy-dense food have been demonstrated in adults (8) , the data are somewhat inconsistent, particularly among children (9)(10)(11) . While many factors influence dietary preferences and habits, encouraging children to consume recommended amounts of F&V is often part of programming conducted in schools (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17...

Background: The high overweight and obesity prevalence among US children is a well-established public health concern. Diet is known to play a causal role in obesity. Increasing fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption to recommended levels is proposed to help reduce obesity, because their bulk and low energy density are believed to reduce energy-dense food consumption (volume displacement hypothesis). This study tests this hypothesis at the lunch meal among upper-elementary students participating in a Farm to School (F2S) program.Methods: Digital photographs of students' school lunch trays were visually analyzed to identify the food items and amounts that were present and consumed before and after the meal. Using the USDA Nutrient Database, total and FV-only energy were calculated for each tray. Analysis of total-and non-FV energy intake was performed according to (1) levels of FV energy intake, (2) FV energy density, and (3) previous years of Farm to School programming.Results: Higher intake of FV energy displaced non-FV energy, but total energy did not decrease across FV energy intake groups. High-FV-energy-density trays showed lower non-FV energy intake than low-FV-energy-density trays (470 -179 vs. 534 -219 kcal; p < 0.0001). Trays from schools with more previous years of F2S programming decreased total and non-FV energy intake from school lunches ( p for trend < 0.0001, both).Conclusions: Increased FV consumption reduces non-FV energy intake, but does not reduce total energy intake. Therefore, this study does not support the volume displacement hypothesis and suggests calorie displacement instead.

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Conclusions and Implications: Overall, parents reported positive behavior changes by their families because of their child's participation in the program; with the greatest area of improvement in family awareness of the importance of good nutrition.