Dole Food Company Donates Salad Bars to Monterey Peninsula Schools

Dole Food Company was joined at Foothill Elementary School by representatives from the Monterey Peninsula School District, Monterey Health Department, California Department of Education and Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner, Eric Lauritzen, to mark the donation of five salad bars to schools in the Monterey Peninsula School District. “Salad bar donations are a natural extension of Dole’s ongoing commitment to childhood nutrition and what better community to do it in,” said Marty Ordman, Dole’s Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications. “This area of the country has long standing agricultural traditions with our company. We are thrilled to be able to give back to this particular community and ensure that the students are getting the fresh fruits and vegetables they need.” The event underscored the practical actions schools can take to combat the growing childhood obesity epidemic through healthy lunch options. As schools work diligently to comply with the new United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition standards for school lunches, salad bars serve as a reasonably priced, attractive option to increase our students’ consumption of fruits and vegetables. "We are honored to work with Dole in a partnership that is improving our students’ access to a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Jennifer Gerard, RD, Director of Nutrition Services, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. “We will be expanding the salad bar program across the district as a part of on-going efforts to provide students with the foods and experiences they need for life-long wellness and achievement." The salad bars are being donated as a part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative, which has donated more than 1,440 salad bars serving more than 720,000 children across the country to date.