The National Council of Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Coordinators, a council of the the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors (ASTPHND), has released a trifold brochure encouraging schools to participate in the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative. 

The new brochure was developed as a resource for state fruit and vegetable nutrition coordinators to support or initiate collaboration between school salad bar advocates in government, industry and non-profit agencies and interested schools. The brochure provides a brief overview of the program, the benefits of adding more fruits and vegetables to school lunches, and information on how a school can apply and prepare for a successful salad bar program. A list of online resources for school salad bars is also included.

Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools is a comprehensive grassroots public health initiative that provides free salad bars to schools through donations from community and corporate sponsors. The program was created to support First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative.

“ASTPHND’s National Council of Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Coordinators is working hard to provide key information and resources to every fruit and vegetable nutrition coordinator across the country,” states Pat Simmons, council chair and nutrition specialist, Bureau of Health Promotion, Section for Chronic Disease Prevention and Nutrition Services, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. “The Coordinators are helping the White House and the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative reach the ambitious goal of launching salad bar programs in at least 6,000 schools across the country over the next three years,” adds Simmons. 

The trifold brochure is available at www.astphnd.org, and stakeholders are encouraged to download, print and distribute the document to interested school community members. For tips on approaching donors for fundraising, please visit the National Fruit & Vegetable Alliance’s website. For additional information, contact Joan Atkinson, ASTPHND’s director of special projects.

Founded in 1952, ASTPHND is a non-profit membership organization that provides state and national leadership on food and nutrition policy, programs and services aimed at improving the health of our population. ASTPHND’s membership is comprised of over 250 public health nutritionists located throughout all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. As we celebrate our 60th year of service, our vision is to create new environmental norms where healthy eating and active living are the easy and natural choices for all Americans. ASTPHND can be found on the Web at www.astphnd.org.

The product described in this release is made possible by a cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Funding award details are on the product. It cost $875 to produce this product, and federal funds covered all of the direct production costs. Development of this product includes in-kind time from state health agency nutrition experts.