The menu says chicken nuggets, tator tots, diced peaches in a sugary syrup, and chocolate milk. There’s not much “fresh” about the food being served in many of our nations’ schools, but the good news is, the Salad Bar in Every School campaign is stepping up and doing something about it.
While attending this week’s UFPA Washington Public Policy Conference and having the amazing opportunity to lobby on Capitol Hill in favor of the Child Nutrition Bill, we were encouraged by the Salad Bar campaign’s results and energized to become even more active supporters of the program. Since May 2010, this campaign has already made a huge impact with 49 schools in 10 states benefitting from new salad bars becoming permanent fixtures in their cafeterias. And, with next spring’s United Fresh 2011 being held in New Orleans, there’s a big push to help out the community that’s hosting us, where, to date, there are 10 salad bars currently planned.
We are so passionate about this campaign because we know that this isn’t just about carrot sticks alongside a cheeseburger. Access to a salad bar turns a school lunch into a teachable moment. It educates kids about nutritious alternatives and provides the opportunity to make their own healthy choices. These choices will stretch far beyond the lunch line and help create a foundation for lifelong healthy eating habits.
Ready to take action? So are we!
It became very clear to us this week in Washington DC that the BEST way to support United’s nationwide campaign is to make it happen in our communities and state. We feel strongly that for this program to work and be effective, it is imperative that we join together. Therefore, we decided to form a task force to raise money, interest and involvement for providing salad bars to schools in Texas. And we have affectionately dubbed our effort “Lone Star Salad Bars”.
We’ve already received interest from a handful of Texans that will no doubt help us as we forge ahead on our mission to provide growing Texans with a healthy salad bar at their school. So far we have received financial commitments from:
Frontera Produce – $15,000
Rio Queen Citrus, Inc. – $5,000
IFCO Systems, N.A. – $5,000
DMA Solutions – $5,000
We have also received time commitments from companies and individuals to work with the schools in their districts throughout our great state. These include HEB, Desert Glory, Kroger, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Crunch Pak, and Village Farms.
Get involved and join us fellow Texans and support this terrific effort – we would love to hear from you! Call us, text us, email us, send smoke signals, whatever…. Let’s band together to bring FRESH to our youngsters!
So What?: United launched the Salad Bar in Every School campaign earlier this year and has experienced success. However, to reach the goal of 1,000 salad bars by 2013, we all need to take the bull by the horns and get involved in our individual communities. We’re igniting an effort to take action in our great state of Texas. Contact us to get involved with this great cause.
