Apio Inc. is proud to announce the donation of salad bars to 10 elementary schools in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District.
The salad bars, donated to support Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools, benefit more than 7,000 students by providing a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables every day at lunch.
“Salad bars are an excellent tool to teach students to eat more fruits and vegetables. We are creating tomorrow’s consumers; teaching kids to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables as part of their daily diet makes for a healthier community,” said Ron Midyett, CEO of Apio, who recently visited Adams Elementary School to see the salad bars in action. “As a producer of fresh vegetables, we feel that the salad bars offer nutritious lunch options that help children establish healthy eating habits at a young age, and we are happy to support our local schools.”
Liz Powell, Santa Maria-Bonita’s food service director, was on hand for Midyett’s visit.
“Our school district started using salad bars in the early 1990s, and they’re a hit with our students, but our equipment was getting old,” Powell said. “Now, thanks to Apio, we have new salad bars in all of our schools. We source produce locally, and include a wide variety of options on the salad bars each day.”
The 10 elementary schools receiving salad bars include Adams, Alvin, Arellanes, Battles, Bonita, Fairlawn, Miller, Oakley, Ontiveros and Tunnell.
“Apio is proud to support Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools and has donated salad bars to 25 schools over the last two years,” Midyett said.
Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools is a special campaign of the United Fresh Foundation, a founding partner of the national Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative. The goal of Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools is to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption by donating salad bars to 350 California schools. The campaigns support first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to end childhood obesity.
Apio, located on the Central Coast of California since 1979, is a company started by a group of local farmers that has grown to become a leading manufacturer of fresh-cut vegetables in bags and trays. Products under Apio’s Eat Smart label can be found in the produce section of grocery stores and club stores within the United States and Canada.
Schools interested in requesting salad bars and learning about Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools can click here.
— Cali Tanguay is the director of marketing and technology for Apio Inc.