Students from the 4th, 8th and 11th grades (N = 177) expressed their opinions as to which foodstuffs belong together in a meal. They did this by selecting and grouping cards that depicted the names and pictures of 25 foodstuffs typically offered in their school lunches. Subjects were allowed to create up to 10 different meals under one of four instructions. The cards were dispensed from a specially designed box that could hold single or multiple copies of each food item. Younger students created significantly more meals with few components than did the older students. The types of foodstuffs selected and their groupings were highly similar across grades and for both boys and girls. The meals tended to correspond to those actually available in the school lunch program, but more than 50% of the creations were unique in that each of them was produced by one or two students. These findings suggest that school nutritionists and administrators should strive for maximum variety in their lunch menus. © 1991.