PEORIA HEIGHTS, Ill. – An Illinois school is shutting the lights off on students during lunch and forcing them to sit in silence as a means of cutting down on food waste.

The problem started when students at Peoria Heights grade school and high school stopped eating their government-provided lunches and tossed most of the food in the trash, an increasing problem at schools across the nation since Michelle Obama inspired school lunch regulations took effect in 2012.

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Peoria Heights District Food Service Director Suzanne Crawford contacted the University of Illinois Extension in the spring of 2016, and the university sent Fulton-Mason-Peoria-Tazewell Unit SNAP-ED educator Michelle Fombelle to conduct a “Smarter Lunchroom Assessment” at both schools, according to AgriNews.

Fombelle concluded the problem wasn’t the “healthy choices on their plates,” but rather excessive socialization, and she devised a strategy to force them to focus on their food.

Essentially, Fombelle and teachers decided to cut the lights during the last five of lunch for “quiet time,” and bribed those that clean their trays with celebrity status and special privileges.

From AgriNews:

After discussing solutions with teachers, Cranford implemented the Golden Spatula incentive program that encouraged students to eat their food while behaving in the cafeteria.

The incentive program was implemented in the fall of 2016. The last five minutes now is considered “quiet time.”

The lights are turned off, and the students are encouraged to finish their meal. Each day two classes are awarded the Golden Spatula based on their behavior, clean trays and a clean table. The incentive program includes daily rewards and cumulative rewards that include more recess time and using the “fun” play equipment.

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Officials who conducted a follow-up “Smarter Lunchroom Assessment” report the scheme is working like a charm.

Kaitlyn Streitmatter, U of I Extension program coordinator, conducted a Smarter Lunchroom Assessment follow-up in the fall of 2016. At this assessment, Streitmatter noticed the positive lunchroom environment and discussed the Golden Spatula incentive program with Cranford, who expressed the need for a reward to continue to encourage good behavior in the lunchroom.

This is when the ultimate reward of having a local “celebrity” come and sit with the winning lunch table was established. The celebrities for January 2017 included the Illinois Central College basketball team.

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It’s unclear exactly when in the “fall of 2016” the implementation and follow up occurred.

The bottom line: With nothing else to do but sit in silence in the dark, students will eat what they’re served, and create less waste, Cranford said.

“The last five minutes of lunch students stay quiet and eat the food on their trays,” she said. “I have noticed students who didn’t eat any of their lunch before, now eating.”

The drastic measures are among a myriad of issues schools are confronting as a result of strict government regulations on calories, fat, sugar, sodium, whole grains, fruits and vegetables imposed through the National School Lunch Program at the former first lady’s behest.

Well over 1.4 million students, including hundreds of entire schools, have dropped out of the program because of the financial and health impacts of the rules, while others continue to struggle with the roughly $1 billion in food waste generated by the changes.

The U.S. House Freedom Caucus and numerous others are now calling on President Donald Trump to work to repeal the legislation and return control over school cafeterias to local leaders.