THE IMPACTS OF INFLATION ON SCHOOL CAFETERIA PRICES AND SENIOR

STUDENTS MEAL CHOICE: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY

Title Presentation
Submitted to the Faculty of the
Senior High School Department
Kin Yang Academy Inc.

Galang, Mary Belen C.

Inflation is a common economic phenomenon that affects many individuals all over

the world.Changes in the supply and demand for goods and services, government policies,

and disasters from nature may all create inflation. Inflation can reduce the buying value of

money, making it more difficult for individuals to afford basic needs such as food. Inflation

can raise the cost of food, materials, and labor in school cafeterias.

A cafeteria is a restaurant where people collect food and drink from a serving area

and take it to a table themselves after paying.Most of the schools have cafeterias.This is to

provide a lunch service to students and to support busy parents who cannot always provide

a lunch from home. Canteens can also provide some additional funds to schools, if run via a

parent and friends committee and staffed by volunteers.When pupils are at school, they will

get their lunch from the cafeteria. Students are not permitted to leave campus for safety

reasons. The sudden increase in food prices may affect students. This situation has both

positive and negative consequences for students. Some positive consequences include

students learning how to save money. Some negative consequences include students

choosing to starve themselves rather than eating a full dish.

According to Sara Ruberg el at (2023) School cafeterias are in crisis.Some of the

schools serve more junk foods to students rather than healthy foods, because they can’t

always afford some of the ingredients of a dish that is affected by inflation.Schol cafeterias

raise the prices of their items in order to raise profits.

The significance of this study aims to address all the potential problems caused by

the impact of inflation on school cafeteria prices and senior student meals which will benefit

the following:

School administrators - Benefit from the study by using the findings to improve the quality

and affordability of school meals. By understanding the impact of inflation on school cafeteria

prices and meal choices, administrators can develop strategies to mitigate the negative

effects of inflation and improve the availability and nutritional value of school meals.

Senior high school students - Benefit from the study by understanding how inflation affects

the cost and availability of school meals. By showing them how the impact of inflation on

cafeteria prices and meal choices, students and their families can make informed decisions

on their food choices.

Parents - Understanding the effects of inflation on the costs and availability of school meals

will benefit their decisions on the allowance they give to their kids.

Researchers - The study aims to know better about the impact of inflation on school

cafeteria prices and senior student meals. This allows to know the correlation of inflation

towards the different sectors of the school, this paper serves to inform the researchers on

how Inflation impacted the School cafeteria prices.

Future Researchers - This paper serves as a reference to the works of future researchers

and to make them knowledgeable about the current topic of inflation within the school

cafeteria.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study focuses on how the inflation affected the meal choices, meal prices and

meal ingredients in the school cafeteria.This will help the researchers to have more ideas to

do this study.

1. How does inflation positively impact the school cafeteria prices?

2. How does inflation negatively impact the school cafeteria prices?

3. How inflationary changes in cafeteria prices affect the food choices of senior high

school students?

HYPOTHESIS

How inflationary changes in cafeteria prices affect the food choices of senior high

school students?

H0 : Inflation does not affect the food prices of the school cafeteria affecting the food

choices of the senior high school students of Kin Yang Academy, Inc.

Ha : Inflation does affect the food prices of the school cafeteria affecting the food choices of

the senior high school students of Kin Yang Academy, Inc.

Independent variables Dependent variables

Independent variables represent the cause of the problem.Supply shock may cause

a problem by unexpectedly increasing or decreasing the supply of a product.Natural disaster

may delay a supply, causing the product to instantly increase prices.Money supply will go to

people; as the money supply increases, so will the standard of living.

Dependent variables indicate impacts. Increased cost of living may affect people's

living. The second variable will mostly affect students who have a limited allowance. Limited

allowance can be cruel to students, especially students that live away from their parents, and

it will affect their personal life such as sleep problems where they worry about their financial

status and cannot fall asleep. Savings drop may give parents a hard time budgeting the meal

for their family.

According on the study “Affordability of Goods Sold in School Canteens as Perceived

by the Grade 10 Students of General Mariano Alvarez Technical High School” by Nathalia

Valera et al (2023) researchers discovered that canteens do not provide more inexpensive

products that ordinary students can buy. Most of the products sold in canteens have

increased costs to the point where even students lose interest. The research also advises

small adjustments to the canteen's supplied services. Setting up menu boards with pricing

listings for food and other items, as well as healthier meal alternatives, was also highly

suggested.

(https://ojs.aaresearchindex.com/index.php/AAJMRA/index)

According to the study "Inflation hits the lunch line: How higher costs and supply

chain issues are affecting school lunches" by CBS NEWS (2022), inflation is not only

affecting family budgets, but it is also affecting the school cafeteria.At Meade Middle School

in Maryland's Anne Arundel County, had to improvise the ingredients that get hit by

inflation.Most of the students noticed that their school cafeteria is losing some condiments

that most of the children's loves.some of the ingredients of the meal are volatile that cause

them to change their monthly menu.

(https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inflation-food-prices-school-lunch-supply-chain/0)
DEFINITION OF TERMS

Correlation - a mutual relationship or connection between two or more variables or factors.

Cruel - willfully causing pain or suffering to others, or feeling no concern about it.

Consequences - result or effect of an action or condition.

Difficult - needing much effort or skill to accomplish, deal with, or understand

Demand - the consumer's desire to purchase a particular good or service

Impacts - the action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another

Economic phenomenon - a contradictory unity of the socio-productive relation and its

material carrier

Funds - a sum of money saved or made available for a particular purpose

Inflation - the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time

Individuals - a single human being as distinct from a group, class, or family

Mitigate - to lessen the negative impact or effect of something

Permitted - give authorization or consent to (someone) to do something

amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something

Quantitative - deals in numbers, logic, and an objective stance

Staffed - provide (an organization, business, etc.) with staff.

Value - the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of

something

Via - by means of.

Volunteer - a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task