GUADALUPE, CA – Apio, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Landec Corporation (LNDC) located in Guadalupe, California is proud to announce their donation of salad bars to 25 schools, as part of the national Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative (LMSB2S), which supports First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to end childhood obesity in a generation. Apio’s donation benefits thousands of students in Santa Maria, Lynwood, Montebello and Hemet School Districts in California, as well as in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“Salad bars are an excellent tool to teach students to eat more fruits and vegetables. We are creating tomorrow’s consumers; teaching kids to enjoy fruits and vegetables as part of their daily diets makes for a healthier community, said Ron Midyett, CEO of Apio, Inc. “Apio is proud to donate salad bars to schools. As a producer of fresh-cut vegetables, we feel it is important to provide children with a healthy and nutritious option at lunch time, and salad bars do just that,” Midyett added.
Apio, one of the top produce industry supporters of LMSB2S, has collaborated with the United Fresh Foundation, a founding partner of the initiative. The goal of LMSB2S is to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption by donating salad bars to schools. To date, over 1,600 schools nationwide have received salad bars through LMSB2S.
Salad bars are an easy way for schools to meet the new USDA nutrition standards for school lunch, which require schools to double the amount of fruits and vegetable served to students each day, and serving a colorful variety of vegetables each week.
“School salad bar donations are one way for the produce industry to showcase our commitment to increasing children’s access and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and supporting our local communities,” says Tom Stenzel, United Fresh president & CEO. “We’re pleased to have produce industry leaders like Apio supporting these efforts,” added Stenzel.
Apio, located on the Central Coast of California since 1979, is a company started by a group of local farmers that has grown to become a leading manufacturer of fresh-cut vegetables in bags and trays. Products under Apio’s Eat Smart label can be found in the produce section of grocery stores and club stores within the United States and Canada.
Apio, Inc., was founded in 1979 by five growers of celery in the Santa Maria Valley on the central coast of California, and named “Apio” for “celery” in Spanish. Today they are the leader in processing and marketing fresh-cut specialty vegetables in the United States. Headquartered in Guadalupe, California, Apio sells its specialty vegetables and party tray products under its Eat Smart® and GreenLine® brands. Apio’s fresh-cut vegetables are unique in that most of their products utilize the Landec Corporation BreatheWay® proprietary breathable packaging technology to extend the shelf life of specific produce. Landec Corporation (NYSE: LNDC), a polymer science and specialty materials company based in Menlo Park, California, acquired Apio in 1999. For more information about the company, visit Apio’s website at www.apioinc.com.
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's Let'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.
The United Fresh 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
Source: Apio, Inc.
