Thanks to an initiative aimed at increasing healthier food options for students, St. Ambrose School in Brunswick now offers a salad bar as part of its lunch program.
The new salad bar is a partnership between Dole Food Co. and local grocery retailer Marc?s. It was unveiled Jan. 23 during a dedication ceremony in the school cafeteria. The salad bar is the first to be implemented by the Diocese of Cleveland and features a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to provide additional nutritious choices for students at breakfast and lunch.
?Making nutritious food choices is the foundation of a healthy lifestyle, and it?s important to form these habits early in childhood. We are excited that this salad bar can reinforce childhood nutrition messages by providing fresh fruits and vegetables for our students during mealtimes,? said Lia Cinadr, St. Ambrose principal.
The salad bar was arranged through a partnership with the United Fresh Start Foundation to support Salad Bars to Schools, a program that has donated salad bars to more than 5,000 schools during the last seven years, benefitting 3 million children with increased access to fresh produce.
?Marc?s is known throughout Northeast Ohio for offering high quality, fresh groceries to we?re pleased to partner with Dole to make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible to students in our community,? said Kevin Yangher, president of the Cleveland-based company. ?Our goal is to truly impact the lives of local students through this salad bar,? he added.
Bil Goldfield, Dole?s director of corporate communications, said one in three children ages 9-11 is at risk or already overweight. ?That?s unacceptable and we need to look at new ways to encourage healthier eating,? he said, adding that Dole is working to start the nutrition conversation early in childhood by introducing fruit and vegetables as healthy options. He said hopefully, by providing salad bars that enable schools to offer a variety of produce choices, they will establish healthier eating habits will last a lifetime.
?Kids like fresh fruits and vegetables and when given the opportunity to make their own choices from a school salad bar, they will select and eat more fresh produce,? said Tom Stenzel, president and CEO of United Fresh Produce Association.
