Meijer, Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Michigan Support 20 Salad Bars For Michigan Schools

South Haven, MI – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Meijer announced a partnership that’s providing 20 salad bars to schools, as part of a statewide effort to promote healthy eating habits and increase children’s access and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in school lunchrooms across Michigan. The announcement was made at Baseline Middle School, one of the first schools to receive a salad bar through the Meijer-BCBSM partnership. All salad bars are being donated as part of the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative, which will benefit 10,000 Michigan students. 

“Meijer is best known for the freshness it offers in the grocery aisles, and we are pleased to partner with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to improve children’s access to fresh produce with these salad bars,” said Meijer Health and Wellness Director Jacquelyn DeBruler. “Meijer is committed to helping the communities it serves become better places to live, work and play, and with these salad bars, we aim to really impact the lives of students by making healthy food options readily available at school.”

Many of the schools receiving salad bars are part of Blue Cross’s Building Healthy Communities program, which provides a range of resources for schools across Michigan to help kids establish the knowledge and behaviors needed for healthy lifestyles and for schools to create healthy environments.

“Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is excited to join forces with Meijer and local communities to support incorporating salad bars into school lunches to help increase students intake of fresh fruit and vegetables” said Lynda Rossi, executive vice president, Blue Cross. “This is a true community collaboration because people came to the table committed to increasing access to healthy choices. We’re pleased we can help deliver another piece of the puzzle toward helping kids be better prepared for a lifetime of healthy eating.”

The salad bars were arranged through a partnership with the United Fresh Start Foundation, a founding partner of the national Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative. In January 2014, the Foundation launched a special Midwest campaign under the umbrella of the national initiative, organizing the produce industry to support salad bars for schools in six Midwest states: Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. 

According to Tom Stenzel, President and CEO, United Fresh Produce Association, “We’re pleased these two leading Michigan companies are supporting salad bars for schools in the communities they serve. Many produce companies in Michigan have come forward to support salad bars for schools and it’s always great when additional community partners, such as local retail grocers and healthcare providers, are also supporting schools in their efforts to serve more fresh fruits and vegetables.” 

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. Salad bars empower students to make their own healthy choices and create excitement about trying new fruits and vegetables, ultimately increasing children’s daily consumption. They are also an easy way for schools to meet new school lunch nutrition standards, which require serving a larger amount and variety of fruits and vegetables.

“The salad bar at Baseline Middle School has been a game changer. Our students enjoy having access to a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables at our salad bar each day and we see they are eating more of these healthy foods,” said Amy Nichols, Food Service Director for the South Haven Public Schools. “Our district has a commitment to providing a variety of nutritious options every day. This, coupled with the nutrition education classes and the messages we incorporate in the cafeteria, our students are encouraged to make healthy choices. The salad bar makes the healthy choice, the easy choice.”

“Private-public partnerships like this are truly giving our schools the ability to provide for students’ entire wellbeing – both mind and body,” said Dr. Robert Herrera, Superintendent of South Haven Public Schools.  “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Meijer and the United Fresh Start Foundation are helping our children embrace a healthy lifestyle. When our students can fill up on healthy foods in the cafeteria, they will come to class focused, ready to learn and ready to take on the day.” 

To date, salad bars have been provided to more than 4,000 schools nationwide through the national Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative, benefitting over 2 million children.  Schools interested in receiving salad bars can visit www.saladbars2schools.org for additional details and information about submitting an application.

Schools receiving 20 salad bars from Meijer and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan partnership:

 

Allendale Christian School
11050 64th Ave
Allendale, MI 49401

Harper Creek Middle School (2 salad bars)
7290 B Drive North
Battle Creek, MI 49014

STEAM Academy at MLK
750 E Britain Ave
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

The Dearborn Academy (2 salad bars)
19310 Ford Rd
Dearborn, MI 48128

Delton Kellogg Middle School
6325 Delton Road
Delton, MI 49046

Dixon Educational Learning Academy
8401 Trinity Street
Detroit, MI 48228

Grandville Middle School
3535 Wilson Ave SW
Grandville, MI 49418

Central Elementary School
4052 Prairie St SW
Grandville, MI 49418

Clarenceville Middle School
20210 Middlebelt Rd
Livonia, MI 48152

Lessenger Elementary School
30150 N Campbell Rd
Madison Heights, MI 48071

Madison Elementary School
27107 Hales
Madison Heights, MI 48071

Michigan Technical Academy
23750 Elmira Street
Redford Charter Twp, MI 48239

Royal Oak High School
1500 Lexington Blvd
Royal Oak, MI 48073

Oakridge Elementary School
506 E 13 Mile Rd
Royal Oak, MI 48073

Baseline Middle School
7357 Baseline Rd
South Haven, MI 4909

North Shore Elementary School
7320 N Shore Dr,
South Haven, MI 49090

Adler Elementary School
19100 Filmore St
Southfield, MI 48075

Stevenson Elementary School
27777 Lahser Road
Southfield, MI 48034

About Meijer

Meijer is a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer that operates 215 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. As a pioneer of the “one-stop shopping” concept, Meijer stores have evolved through the years to include expanded fresh produce and meat departments, as well as pharmacies, comprehensive electronics departments, garden centers and apparel offerings. Additional information on Meijer and the ability to shop for more can be found at www.meijer.com. Follow Meijer on Twitter @twitter.com/Meijer or become a fan at www.facebook.com/meijer.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit mutual insurance company, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BCBSM provides and administers health benefits to more than 4.4 million members residing in Michigan in addition to employees of Michigan-headquartered companies who reside outside the state. For more company information, visit bcbsm.com and MiBluesPerspectives.com.

Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools

Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools is a public health campaign to increase salad bars in schools across the country so that every child has the choice of healthy fruits and vegetables every day at school. Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools supports First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to end childhood obesity in a generation. Founding partners are: The United Fresh Start Foundation, National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, Chef Ann Foundation, and Whole Foods Market. More information can be found online at www.saladbars2schools.org

About the United Fresh Start Foundation

The United Fresh Start Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization focused exclusively on increasing children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Affiliated with the United Fresh Produce Association, the Foundation is committed to helping today’s kid’s achieve the public health goal to make half their plate fruits and vegetables in order to live longer and healthier lives. We work to create an environment in which kids have easy access to high-quality, great-tasting and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, whenever and wherever they are choosing snacks or a meal. More information is available at: http://www.unitedfresh.org/nutrition/lets-move-salad-bars-to-schools/

Source: United Fresh Start Foundation