Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools is a public health initiative to donate salad bars to schools across the country in order to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption and improve child nutrition. Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools supports First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to end childhood obesity in a generation. In the past year, more than 800 salad bars have been donated to schools nationwide. 

It’s easy for schools or school districts in the Southeast to apply for salad bars. Any K-12 school or school district participating in the National School Lunch Program is invited to apply. Schools can visit the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools website at www.saladbars2schools.org to learn more and submit an application. All applications must be submitted online and have the approval of the school’s foodservice director, superintendent and principal. An individual school can apply for one salad bar or a district can apply for the total number of salad bars needed. Schools recognized as HealthierUS Challenge Schools are given top priority. 

With current rates of childhood obesity higher than the national average in all southeastern states, Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools and Produce for Kids are providing a new opportunity to improve student’s consumption of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables at school each day. Research and school experience shows that school children eat more fruits and vegetables when they have a variety of colorful choices such as those provided in a salad bar.

"Salad bars in schools are an effective way to increase children’s access to and consumption of a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables every day, thus helping them to meet the new proposed MyPlate recommendations to make half your plate fruits and vegetables at every meal," said Kim Avola, marketing director for Produce for Kids.

To accelerate this trend, Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools is donating salad bars so that cafeterias become better equipped to provide healthful fruits and vegetables. 

To find out how your school can complete an application and request a salad bar, visit www.saladbars2schools.org today.