‘Let’s Move Salad Bars’ to Schools gains seven more

Photo: United Fresh FoundationWASHINGTON, DC –Kaiser Permanente partnered last week with the United Fresh Foundation to donate salad bars to seven public schools in Washington. The salad bars will benefit 2,300 students by increasing their access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  

 

“Through our partnership with the United Fresh Foundation we are increasing students’ daily access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Celeste James, director of Community Health Initiatives for Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States.  “If we want children to practice healthy eating behaviors we need to ensure that healthy options are readily available.”

The Fresh Foundation is a founding partner of Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, which supports First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign to end childhood obesity.  

 

New USDA nutrition standards for school lunch require schools to dramatically increase the amount and variety of fruits and vegetable served to students each day. The District’s Healthy Schools Act also provides DC public and charter schools with additional resources to serve more fresh local produce and other healthy foods. 

 

Research and experience in schools across the country demonstrate that children significantly increase their fruit and vegetable consumption when given a variety of choices in a school salad bar. When offered multiple fruit and vegetable choices, children respond by incorporating greater variety and increasing their overall consumption. Nationwide, more than 2,800 schools have received salad bars from the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools campaign.

Source:United Fresh Produce Association