BALTIMORE, MD – Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools (LMSB2S) is thrilled to announce that the partnership has granted it’s 4,000th school salad bar serving more than 2 million kids a day. This represents an investment of over $10 million by the LMSB2S partners, foundations and corporate and non-profit donors. A sub-initiative in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! program, Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools provides salad bar equipment and training to schools and districts across America who are enrolled in the National School Lunch Program. The organization was founded in 2010 by Whole Foods Market, the United Fresh Start Foundation, the Chef Ann Foundation, and the National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance1. The Whole Kids Foundation, LMSB2S’ largest sustaining partner, helped make this milestone happen with a $750,000 donation last month.
“Today’s announcement is an exciting milestone,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “I’m thrilled that the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative has helped bring 4,000 school salad bars to more than 2 million children nationwide. As we celebrate the fifth anniversary of Let’s Move!, we are well on our way to a future when all students have access to a variety of vegetables and fruit from their school salad bars each day. This is what change looks like!”
Overall, findings demonstrate that availability of salad bars is an effective strategy to increase students’ fruit and vegetable intake and furthermore help schools comply with new and improved federal school lunch nutrition standards. From a 2014 survey of food service directors from schools receiving LMSB2S salad bars, most schools (57%) saw an increase in student participation in the school lunch program as a result of implementing salad bars. More than half of the students in recipient schools are eligible for free and reduced price school meals through the National School Lunch Program, demonstrating LMSB2S is providing low-income students with increased access to a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
1 The National Fruit and Vegetable alliance includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, and the Produce for Better Health Foundation.
“This achievement was made possible through teamwork, with organizations from both the public and private sectors joining forces to make it as easy as possible for schools to apply for salad bars,” said Sam Kass, Former Executive Director of Let’s Move! “We’ve learned that kids who have access to salad bars at school are eating three times as many fruits and vegetables. For that alone, we need to embrace and grow this cause.”
In Celebration
Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools will be celebrating this 4,000th salad bar milestone achievement by hosting an event at the Calvin M. Rodwell Elementary School (part of Baltimore City Public Schools) on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at 10:00am. Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) serve nearly 85,000 students, with 84% of students eligible for free or reduced meals, and over half the students eating a school lunch daily. The Salad Bar Program began back in 2012 in BCPS with just ten pilot schools. Today, 70 salad bars are operating throughout the district, with other sites offering salad bars from retrofitted cold service lines, or serving a house-made side salad. BCPS partners with the District’s Great Kids Farm to offer students cultivated and processed seasonal produce that, when available, is included in schools’ salad service.
“When kids are given the opportunity to choose good food, they make good choices!” said Nona Evans, Executive Director of the Whole Kids Foundation. “At the heart of the matter, kids enjoy eating well.”
According to Lorelei DiSogra EdD, R.D., Vice President of Nutrition and Health at the United Fresh Produce Association, “Showcasing successes like Baltimore is critical as Congress gets ready to reauthorize child nutrition programs later this year. With salad bars and a host of other programs designed to increase children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables, Baltimore City students are learning to make healthy choices for a lifetime.”
Apply for a Salad Bar Today
The application to request salad bars from Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools is available at saladbars2schools.org. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. In addition to the freestanding mobile salad bar, each school recipient receives access to thelunchbox.org, a free comprehensive online portal that helps lunchrooms transition from frozen and boxed foods to fresh, whole, scratch-cooked foods.
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About Whole Kids Foundation
Whole Kids Foundation, a Whole Foods Market foundation, is based in Austin, Texas, and operates as an independent, nonprofit organization. Its mission is to improve children's nutrition and wellness, with the goal of ending the childhood obesity epidemic. Through partnerships with innovative organizations, schools and educators, the foundation works to provide children access to healthier choices and aims to help children reach their full potential through the strength of a healthy body. To learn more about Whole Kids Foundation and its salad bar and garden grant programs, visit www.wholekidsfoundation.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.
About the Chef Ann Foundation
The Chef Ann Foundation was founded in 2009 by Ann Cooper, an internationally recognized author, chef, educator, public speaker, and advocate of healthy food for all children. Chef Ann founded the organization to help schools transition to healthier school food. To-date their programing has reached over 2,000,000 children across the country with its flagship program The Lunch Box providing schools and districts with free tools and resources to help them create healthy and delicious scratch-cooked meals made with fresh, whole food. As a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, the Chef Ann Foundation is grateful to their generous supporters and friends who help them carry out this mission.
About the National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance
The National Fruit & Vegetable Alliance (NFVA) is a national alliance of public and private partners working collaboratively to increase nationwide access to and demand for all forms of fruits and vegetables for improved public health. The vision of NFVA is that fruits and vegetables comprise half of the food that Americans eat. For a list of NFVA members, see www.nfva.org/about.html.
Source: United Fresh Produce Association
