US school lunch salad bar

Bayer, in partnership with the United Fresh Start Foundation, is providing a new salad bar to Sunnyslope Elementary School, Wenatchee Public Schools.

To promote the new salad bar, the announcement was made at a special assembly for 4th and 5th grade students, where they taste tested three new Stemilt apple varieties, and voted on their favourite tasting apple.

“The new salad bar will allow us to replace our old equipment, and provide students with an attractive display of fresh fruits and veggies every day,” said David Perkins, principal, Sunnyslope Elementary School. “Our district’s foodservice team does a fantastic job sourcing local produce and offering different veggie choices. The salad bar will definitely highlight that.”

Bayer has committed US$20,000 to the United Fresh Start Foundation, in support of their mission to increase children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables. As part of the partnership, Bayer is funding salad bars to elementary and secondary schools in the Pacific Northwest and California, providing healthy lunch choices for students. Schools will implement the salad bars in their school lunch and breakfast programmes, starting in the coming weeks.

“Over 5bn school lunches were served last year, and we are thrilled to support the United Fresh Start Foundation and their Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative,” said Jennifer Maloney, food chain and sustainability manager, Bayer. “With more than 30m American children participating in the National School Lunch Program each day, providing salad bars to schools will expose kids to a variety of fruits and vegetables, and help continue the conversation about the importance of eating more fresh fruits and vegetables for better health.”