CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Harris Teeter is launching a campaign designed to bring salad bars to schools in the Harris Teeter market communities to support Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools (LMSB2S). In collaboration with the United Fresh Produce Association Foundation, a founding partner of LMSB2S, Fresh Express, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chiquita Brands, and nine additional produce suppliers, Harris Teeter will donate salad bars to at least 10 schools. These salad bars will benefit more than 5,000 students by providing them a healthy lunch option filled with fresh produce.
Harris Teeter shoppers will also have the opportunity to bring salad bars to schools thru a “Text-to-Donate” campaign. Promotional materials and information will be found in all Harris Teeter stores August 19th through September 15th. Shoppers can donate $5 by texting “SALAD” to 80077 or they can visit www.SaladBars2Schools.org to give securely online. The “Text-to-Donate” campaign will accept donations through October 11, 2012. Fresh Express, the industry leader in providing consumers with fresh, healthy, convenient ready-to-eat salads, leafy greens, vegetables and fruits, will match shopper donations up to $15,000. In addition to raising funds for LMSB2S, shoppers will find Harris Teeter’s “Healthy Lunch 101“ – a produce guide providing parents with tips on how to pack more fruits and vegetables into their children’s lunches.
Why Salad Bars? Children significantly increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables when given a variety of choices in school fruit and vegetable salad bars. With exposure through school lunch options, children try new fruits and vegetables, incorporate greater variety into their diets and increase their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. With increased daily access to a variety of fruits and vegetables, children learn to make decisions that carry over outside of school, providing a platform for a lifetime of healthy snack and meal choices. The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity has endorsed salad bars.
“Salad bars are an effective way for schools to meet the new school lunch guidelines, which calls for doubling the amount of fruits and vegetables available to students at lunch,” said Bob Stallman, general manager of Fresh Express. “These efforts are in-line with our mission of Improving World Nutritionand support our commitment to making fresh produce convenient and accessible to the communities in which we live and work.”
The salad bar donations will be made possible by the generous contributions of the following companies/individuals: Harris Teeter shoppers, Chiquita Brands, Alpine Fresh, Modern Mushrooms, Monterey Mushrooms, California Giant Berry Farms, Apio, Wholly Guacamole, National Mango Board, National Watermelon Promotion Board, Marie’s Dressings and Harris Teeter.
LMSB2S was developed to provide salad bars to schools across the country to increase children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables and to support First Lady Michele Obama’sLet’s Move! initiative to end childhood obesity within a generation. To date, more than 1,600 salad bars have been donated to schools nationwide through LMSB2S.
About Harris Teeter
Harris Teeter Inc., with headquarters in Matthews, N.C., is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Inc. (NYSE: HTSI). Harris Teeter is the 24th largest supermarket in the U.S. with 2011 sales of $4.29 billion. The regional grocery chain employs approximately 25,000 associates and operates stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, Delaware, Florida and the District of Columbia.
About Fresh Express Incorporated
Fresh Express, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (NYSE: CQB), is a leader in fresh foods and is dedicated to providing consumers with healthy, convenient ready-to-eat salads, leafy greens, vegetables and fruits. With the invention of its special Keep Crisp® Bag in the 1980s, Fresh Express pioneered the retail packaged salad category and was the first to make them available to grocery stores nationwide. Today, Fresh Express fresh salads come in more than 60 different varieties offering exciting new flavors and convenient new ways to meet the daily dietary requirements for fresh produce. More than 20 million consumers each week enjoy healthy, convenient ready-to-eat Fresh Express salads, spinach, vegetables and greens. For more information, visit www.freshexpress.com. ABOUT CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (NYSE: CQB) is a leading international marketer and distributor of nutritious, high-quality fresh and value-added food products – from energy-rich bananas, other fruits, blends of convenient green salads to healthy snacking products. The company markets its healthy, fresh products under the Chiquita® and Fresh Express® premium brands and other related trademarks. With annual revenues of more than $3 billion, Chiquita employs more than 21,000 people and has operations in nearly 70 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit our corporate web site at www.chiquitabrands.com.
About 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. Lets Move Salad Bars to Schools supports First Lady Michelle Obama'sLet's Move! initiative. Founding partners are: United Fresh Produce Association Foundation, National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, Food Family Farming Foundation, and Whole Foods Market. More information can be found online at www.saladbars2schools.org.
About the United Fresh Produce Association Foundation
The United Fresh Produce Association Foundation is the United Fresh Produce Association’s 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization designed to help meet the public’s need for healthy, high quality, safe and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Through its Center for Nutrition and Health, the Foundation is devoted to enhancing consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables through environmental change and public policy, and industry commitment to charitable endeavors. The Center is working to double the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables by American children, helping to end childhood obesity in the next generation. The foundation is a founding partner ofLet’s Move Salad Bars to Schools. For more information about Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, contact Andrew Marshall, amarshall@unitedfresh.org, (202) 303-3407.
Source: Harris Teeter
