Westport, CT (April 15, 2010) – As a part of its commitment to child nutrition and fighting obesity among school students, NatureSeal has purchased a salad bar that will be donated to The Sandy S. Miller School in Nevada after the April United Fresh Produce Show in Las Vegas. The United Fresh Produce Association announced its campaign “A Salad Bars in Every School” in March. The addition of salad or fruit and veggie bars in schools are a proven way to get students to eat healthy, nutrient dense fresh fruit and vegetables.
The timing for this initiative couldn’t be more perfect. Child Nutrition Reauthorization is currently in the works after being delayed from 2009 due to the enormous amount of time spent on health care reform. In addition, First Lady Michelle Obama’s task force to combat obesity rolled just out its “Let’s Move” campaign. There is a great deal of attention being paid to this subject and the momentum continues to grow.
Esperanza Zendejas, the school superintendent of the Alisal Union School District in Salinas, California is strong proponent of salad bars in schools. Not only do all of her current schools have salad bars, she started placing salad bars in schools since her first superintendent position in1988.
According to Ms. Zendejas, “I see significant benefits for the children and for the overall district lunch program. In our school district, we find that using salad bars increases the number of children eating fresh fruits and vegetables and the amount of fruits and vegetables they eat. Contrary to popular belief, children in our school district love the fresh vegetables we serve in our salad bars. We also serve lots of different fresh fruits”.
She further states, “I can’t say enough about the value and benefits of implementing salad bars in our schools and specifically in our elementary schools. Children eat more fruits and vegetables and eat a wider variety. The results are immediate and will last a life time, benefiting thousands of future families in our community. In our district, when we enroll a child, we enroll an entire family and the salad bars are helping the entire family learn to eat healthier. In conclusion, salad bars add to the positive educational outcomes for our students. I believe that all students would benefit from having salad bars in their school”.
In an effort to help schools get started with new salad bars, NatureSeal, Inc. has also donated its NatureSeal food service product to the recipient schools of the salad bars from the United Show. These school food service professionals can treat the produce they cut for the salad bars with NatureSeal well in advance of serving, and still have the freshest looking and tasting cut produce possible. This will expose many students to a wide variety of fresh-cut produce opening up a whole new world of delicious, healthy food experiences.
Source: NatureSeal