Sun World & Panama-Buena Vista Union School District Move More Salad Bars To Schools

Bakersfield, Calif. – Today more students are eating healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables thanks to the partnership of the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District (P-BVUSD) and Bakersfieldbased grower Sun World International. Officials from the school district held a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the new salad bar lunch option now offered at Tevis Junior High thanks to Sun World’s donation of two salad bar units.

The healthy lunch offering is an expansion of the successful salad bar program piloted at Stonecreek Junior High last year. In 2010, the salad bar offering drove an increase of 25% more students at Stonecreek Junior High participating in the National Lunch Program and almost half of all lunches served were through the salad bar.

“The results from last year’s pilot prove that with the right tools we can ensure our students get the healthy balanced meal they need to be healthy, happy kids and successful students,” PBVUSD’s Nutrition Services Manager Marilou Onaindia said. “We’re pleased we can bring this positive impact to yet another school in our district.”

The donation is part of Sun World’s ongoing support of the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative founded in part by the United Fresh Produce Association and supported by First Lady Obama’s Let’s Move campaign. The Company now plans to formalize its program to donate a salad bar a year to schools in the Kern County area.

“We believe that it takes local action to spur national movements like the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative,” Sun World CEO & President Al Vangelos said. “That’s why we’re doing what we can to bring more fresh fruits and vegetables to our local kids and help them develop good eating habits that lead to long, healthy lives.”

Founded in 1875, the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District is located in, and southwest of, the City of Bakersfield. The district provides public education to 17, 250 kindergarten through eighth grade students in eighteen elementary and five junior high schools. Each school offers its students a hot lunch in a full kitchen and cafeteria. Approximately 12,000 students participate daily in the National School Lunch Program.

Headquartered in Bakersfield, Calif., Sun World International, LLC. first sunk its roots into the fresh fruit and vegetable industry in 1976. Sun World is proud to offer a full line of seedless grapes, sweet peppers, stonefruits and other distinctive fruits and vegetables. The company harvests over 10,000 acres of farming land, maintains a network of 950 domestic and international partner growers, and markets over 11.5 million cartons of fresh fruit worldwide.

Source: Sun World International, LLC