Dole Food Company and Ahold-owned Giant Food Stores have teamed up to donate two salad bars to schools in the Parkland School District.
The salad bars were donated as a part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative, which has donated more than 2,491 salad bars serving more than 1.2m children across the country.
The groups were joined by congressman Charlie Dent and state rep Ryan Mackenzie to celebrate the donation at Fogelsville Elementary School.
The event underscored the practical actions schools can take to combat the growing obesity epidemic through healthy lunch options, with salad bars serving as a reasonably priced, attractive option to increase student consumption of fruit and vegetables.
“Salad bar donations are a natural extension of Dole’s ongoing commitment to childhood nutrition,” said Marty Ordman, Dole’s vice-president of marketing and corporate communications. “Giant Food Stores have been a part of Pennsylvania communities for over 90 years. Their dedication to making sure that young people are living healthier lives matches our passion at Dole. We are proud to partner with them for this project.”
Jeff Beaulieu, vice-president of sales and merchandising at Giant Food Stores, added: “Giant has a long-standing commitment to eradicate hunger and improve the quality of life for children in addition to working with hundreds of local organisations annually. When children have the chance to sample fresh fruits and vegetables at school, they’re more likely to ask for them at home. This is a wonderful example of how schools and businesses can work together to create healthier communities.”
