Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools: Applicant School District Characteristics

Introduction of school salad bars is a proven way to increase the amount and variety of fruits and vegetables (F&V) consumed by children in K-12 schools. In 2010, the National F&V Alliance, United Fresh Produce Association, and the Food, Family, Farming Foundation launched Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools (LMSB2S) in partnership with the White House's Let's Move initiative. The program goal is placement of 6,000 salad bars in schools over 3 years. Applicant school districts are asked a series of questions regarding demographic characteristics of districts and current practices to promote F&V access and food served. The characteristics of candidate school districts who have applied for salad bars as of February 2012 is summarized. In the first year of the program, 964 districts from 48 states and the District of Columbia have submitted applications to request 2,303 salad bars. 87% of requests are from districts that currently have no salad bar. 51% of district wellness policies specifically offer guidelines for encouraging F&V consumption. Dark green/orange vegetables are served, on average, only 2.8 times per month and 47% of F&V served are fresh or frozen rather than canned. 42% of schools serve fried foods, and only 23% serve F&V in competitive food sales. These data characterize the baseline practices of applicant school districts in promoting access to F&V. Districts will be surveyed again following one year of implementation to assess how introduction of school salad bars influence these practices.