New School Salad Bars Coming, Compliments of Safeway Foundation

The Safeway Foundation in Pleasanton, Calif. will provide salad bars to schools in Hemet, Pleasanton and Ventura Unified School Districts in California, thanks to its recent grant to the United Fresh Foundation's "Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools" program.

 

In total, the grant will benefit 6,382 students by increasing their consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables at lunch. In addition, it helps the United Fresh Foundation close in on its goal of donating salad bars to 350 California schools by May 2013.

 

“The Safeway Foundation is proud to make a difference in the many neighborhoods that Safeway serves,” said Christy Duncan-Anderson, executive director of the Safeway Foundation. “We are committed to promoting health and wellness for today’s consumers and for the next generation.”

 

The Safeway Foundation, with a focus on giving locally, supports causes that impact customers' lives and improve children’s health. All schools receiving salad bars from this grant are located within five miles of a Safeway/Vons store.

 

“This donation highlights the collaborative effort and commitment along the entire supply chain to improving child nutrition and combating childhood obesity by promoting increased fruit and vegetable consumption,” said Tom Stenzel, United Fresh president and CEO. “Salad bars are the easiest, most effective way for schools to meet the new federal school lunch standards and make it possible for students to ‘make half their plate fruits and vegetables’ as recommended by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for America.”

 

Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools is a special campaign of the United Fresh Foundation, under the umbrella of the national Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative, of which the United Fresh is a founding partner. Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools continues the United Fresh Foundation’s tradition of benefitting children and schools in the host state of the association’s annual convention, this year in San Diego, May 14-16.