**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THIS PROJECT WILL INCREASE CHILDREN'S FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION AND REDUCE FOOD WASTE BY DEVELOPING, DISSEMINATING, AND EVALUATING AN AGENT-BASED MODEL (ABM) SIMULATION TOOL THAT IDENTIFIES SYSTEMS AND BEHAVIORAL NUDGE STRATEGIES TO OPTIMIZE CONSUMPTION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMS. MOST CHILDREN DO NOT EAT THE RECOMMENDED AMOUNT OF VEGETABLES, AND FOOD WASTE IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE. CURRENTLY, BEHAVIORAL NUDGE APPROACHES, WHICH AIM TO REDUCE WASTE WHILE IMPROVING SELECTION AND CONSUMPTION OF VEGETABLES, FRUIT, AND OTHER HEALTHY FOODS, DOMINATE SCHOOL NUTRITION RESEARCH AND PRACTICE. YET, THE COMPLEXITY OF SCHOOL MEAL ENVIRONMENTS REQUIRES A SYSTEMS APPROACH THAT IS MISSING FROM THE AVAILABLE EVIDENCE ON BEHAVIORAL NUDGES. OUR OVERALL GOAL IS TO EMPOWER K-12 SCHOOL NUTRITION STAFF WITH EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGIES SPECIFIC TO THEIR INSTITUTION TO IMPROVE CHILD FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION WHILE DECREASING FOOD WASTE THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A SCHOOL MEAL SYSTEMS ABM. WE WILL USE OUR PRELIMINARY DATA TO DEVELOP THE ABM AND TEST ITS PREDICTIVE VALIDITY BY CONDUCTING REAL-WORLD, NUDGE EXPERIMENTS IN DIVERSE SCHOOL SETTINGS AND COMPARING THE EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS TO THE ABM PREDICTIONS. WE WILL DISSEMINATE THE ABM NATIONWIDE AND EVALUATE THE TOOL'S EFFECTIVENESS AMONG SCHOOL NUTRITION PROFESSIONALS. LASTLY, WE WILL PROVIDE HANDS-ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROJECT AND OFFER A SEMINAR COURSE ON USING SYSTEMS APPROACHES TO PREVENT CHRONIC DISEASE. OUR ABM TOOL WILL FILL A CRITICAL GAP BY IDENTIFYING DATA-DRIVEN STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE CHILD DIET QUALITY, MITIGATE FOOD WASTE, AND REDUCE SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM COSTS.