Campaign donates salad bars to 436 California schools

A campaign led by the United Fresh Produce Association has culminated in the donation of salad bars to 436 California schools. The donation will benefit 300,000 California students who will now have access to a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables every day at lunch.

United Fresh made the announcement at the “Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools” celebration press conference in San Diego, which brought together government, education and child nutrition officials, school food service directors from throughout California, students from San Diego area schools, and more than 100 produce industry and foundation donors. The celebration was held on the opening day of the United Fresh 2013 annual produce convention at the San Diego Convention Center.

The schools receiving salad bars are located in 71 school districts throughout CA – from Humboldt County in the north to San Diego and Imperial County in the south, and from the Bay Area to Tuolumne County in the east. School foodservice directors from 37 of those districts attended the event and were recognized as “salad bar superstars” and leaders on the front line in increasing children’s consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The goal of the campaign is to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption and improve their health by donating salad bars to schools throughout California. Over the past year, this campaign has collaborated with TEAM California for Healthy Kids and the California Department of Education to meet that shared goal.