Yes, you read that correctly. Let's Move Salad Bars to MIDWEST Schools is a special campaign of the United Fresh Foundation, under the umbrella of the national Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools (LMSB2S) initiative. The goal of Let's Move Salad Bars to MIDWEST Schools is to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption by donating salad bars to schools in IL, IN, MI, MN, OH and WI.
School salad bars are an effective strategy to increase students’ fruit and vegetable consumption and help them develop healthier eating habits. Salad bars are also an easy way for schools to meet the new nutrition standards for school lunch, which double the amount of fruits and vegetable served and emphasize a colorful variety.
It’s easy for schools to apply for a salad bar. Visit www.saladbars2schools.org to complete an application. For information about Lets Move Salad Bars to MIDWEST Schools, contact Andrew Marshall at (202) 303-3407, amarshall@unitedfresh.org or Diane Golzynski at (517) 373-3383, golzynskid@michigan.gov.
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Top 10 Reasons why promoting salad bars in schools is important:
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Schools play a critical role in shaping children’s health. They offer a safe and supportive setting with policies and practices that encourage healthy behaviors.
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Both research and actual experience in schools across the country are increasingly showing that salad bars are an effective strategy to increase children’s intake of a variety of fruits and vegetables at school lunch every day.
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When offered a choice of fruits and vegetables, children respond by trying new items, adding greater variety into their diets and upping their daily fruit and vegetable intake.
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Our state’s low intake of fruits and vegetables contributes to the crisis of childhood obesity and other chronic diseases.
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Increased daily access to a variety of fruits and vegetables provides a personal experience about choices that can shape behavior far beyond the school lunch line. Children learn to make smart decisions, building a foundation for a lifetime of healthy snack and meal choices.
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Salad bars are an easy way for schools to meet the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new nutrition standards for school meals that emphasize serving more dark green, red and orange vegetables every week.
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Salad bars can bring a school-wide focus to the importance of an overall healthy school food environment.
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Salad bars can help schools make their meals healthier, implement their wellness policy, add to current nutrition education programs, and become eligible for recognition as part of USDA’s HealthierUS Schools Challenge (HUSSC).
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Schools using salad bars have seen a decrease in food waste and labor cost and an increase in school meal participation.
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Developing a salad bar is a great opportunity to help the local economy by bringing more local food into your lunchrooms.
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