EAT MORE SALAD!

Headline: Salad bars + schools = more fruits & vegetables for children

Children eat healthier foods when nutritious options are available.

School children eat more fruits and vegetables when they have a variety of choices such as those provided in a salad bar. That's what research and actual experience in schools are discovering.¹ To accelerate this trend, the "Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools" program is offering incentives to help school lunch rooms become better equipped to provide tasty fruits and vegetables.

The health benefits are many. Fruits and vegetables, as part of a healthy diet, are important for optimal child growth, weight management, and chronic disease prevention.

Yet across the U.S., fewer than 1 in 10 children eat the daily recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.² School salad bars are one way to help reverse this deficit. When offered multiple fruit and vegetable choices, children respond by trying new items, incorporating greater variety into their diets, and increasing their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Any school, public or private, participating in the National School Lunch Program can apply for a start-up award to help pay for salad bar equipment. Interested schools can begin the process by completing an online application and creating their own individualized webpage at: www.saladbars2schools.org . The website offers details about the benefits of salad bars and resources to help increase fruit and vegetable consumption at schools.

Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools is an initiative of the Food Family Farming Foundation, National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, United Fresh Produce Association Foundation, and Whole Foods Market to support First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Initiative.

More Information

¹ http://saladbars2schools.org/why
² http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/health_professionals/statereport.html