California association donates salad bars to Salinas area schools
Students at two high schools in the Salinas, Calif., area will have more options for healthy food with the donation of salad bars from the Grower-Shipper Association Foundation, Salinas.
The foundation’s More Produce in Schools program matches local donors and schools in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, according to a news release. On Nov. 12, Scotts Valley High School and San Benito High School received salad bars through the program.
“We are proud of all industry members who are helping ensure children in the surrounding area will have be able to choose to fresh, local produce every day as part of their school lunch,” Lorri Koster, president of the Grower-Shipper Association Foundation. “The fields where we grow vegetables that feed that world are just a short distance from these schools, and it just makes sense that students should be able to easily access the variety of produce that our counties are known for.”
In the past five years, contributions from companies including Taylor Farms, Church Brothers Farms, Tanimura & Antle, Ocean Mist Farms, Braga Fresh Family Farms, Sabor Farms, Top Flavor Farms and Ippolito International have placed salad bars in local schools.
Salad bar donations are coordinated with the United Fresh Start Foundation, a founding partner in the Salad Bars to Schools initiative, which has placed more than 5,600 of them in schools across the country.
Andrew Marshall, director of foodservice & foundation partnerships for the United Fresh Start Foundation, thanked the Grower-Shipper Association Foundation in the news release.
“We look forward to exploring additional opportunities for collaboration in the years ahead, especially as we plan to engage more California school nutrition leaders to attend the United Fresh conventions that will take place in San Diego in 2020 and Los Angeles in 2021,” Marshall said in the release.
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