Frequently Asked Questions Download PDF

Q. What is Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools?

A. Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools is a comprehensive grassroots public health effort to mobilize and engage stakeholders at the local, state and national level to support salad bars in schools. Our vision is to significantly increase salad bars in schools across the country until every child has the choice of healthy fruits and vegetables every day at school. Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools is an initiative of the Food Family Farming Foundation, National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, United Fresh Produce Association Foundation and Whole Foods Markets to support First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative. The goal of Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools is to fund and award 6000 salad bars by the end of 2013. Learn more about how to get support for bringing a salad bar to a school in your community at www.saladbars2schools.org.

Q. My school has received a Healthier US Schools Challenge Award, does that mean our school will receive a salad bar?

A. Yes, if your school is a US Healthier School Challenge Award recipient your school is automatically eligible to receive a salad bar, provided your Superintendent, Principal, and Nutrition Services Director are committed to implementing a salad bar program every day in your school. Once the initiative has secured funds to purchase your bar you will be notified.

Q. My school is not public. May we still apply for the Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools grant?

A. Any school, public or private, participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) may be awarded a Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools grant. If your school does not participate in NSLP, you are welcome to take advantage of all of the free resources available on our website to assist you in planning and implementing a salad bar at your school.

Q. I work for a district that would like to apply for multiple salad bars at one time, is there a process for that?

A. Yes! In that case it will be up to the district to determine how many salad bars they need and which schools will get salad bars once funded. Districts may apply for a maximum of one salad bar per school site.

Q. What will my school or district need to complete an application?

A. A sample application is available on the website at the top of the 'Apply for a Grant' page. The application process is short and easy, requiring information such as: contact information for the Food Services Director, district shipping address, Superintendent contact information and district address, district enrollment, free and reduced participation percentage and multiple choice questions about the foods you serve in school lunch and how your school food service will support the operation of the salad bar throughout the school year. A critical part of the application is support and approval from the district administrators for the salad bar and district readiness for implementation. A salad bar grant contract must be signed by the Food Services Director and the Superintendent and be uploaded to your application before submitting.

Q. If my district is approved for a salad bar grant, when will we receive our salad bar?

A. At the current time we have more approved applications than we have funds so we cannot determine an exact date of shipment. Once a salad bar is fully funded it enters the order and ship phase and will arrive in approximately five weeks from the time the order is placed. There are no set shipping deadlines and we ship year round. Districts that applied for multiple salad bars will be shipped as we fund them. For example, if you applied for thirty but we are ready to place an order and you're funded for ten, we'll ship ten and then we'll continue to raise funds for the rest.

Q. Do we have to raise money for the salad bar?

A. No, you don't have to raise money for your salad bar, but schools and districts that participate in fundraising may receive their bars sooner because self fundraising helps expedite the overall initiative's goal of funding 6000 salad bars by the end of 2013. Our donation webpage is designed to be shared via Twitter, Facebook and Email to help your district/school raise awareness in your community about your intention to launch a new program. Encourage your fans to join your cause and make a donation towards the purchase of your salad bar. Donors can fund your district directly by searching the "find your school/district" button on the homepage or finding your district from the donation page of the website. Fundraising tips can be found on our Resources page.

Q. My local health authority's regulations require use of an electric refrigerated (mechanically cooled) salad bar in our schools. Are electric salad bars available as part of the grant?

A. Yes, electric salad bars can be granted, however the funds needed to purchase electric bars are more than double that of insulated salad bars. Cambro has provided a copy of the temperature retention tests that have proven the insulated bar's capacity to hold temperatures below 41 degrees for four hours. It is available on the Resources page and we recommend that districts present the cold retention documentation and your Standard Operating Procedures to your local health authority before assuming that only an electric bar will be acceptable. To inquire about an electric bar, send an email to info@saladbars2schools.org . Please type: MAY NEED ELECTRIC in the subject line and include your name, the name of your school or district and contact phone number only if electric is a requirement of your code. Because of the cost, the electric salad bar selection will not include the insert pans and other utensils.

Q. How much will it cost to have a salad bar offered every day in our school?

A. A full explanation of salad bar costs is addressed in The Lunch Box Salad Bar Guide on our Resource page or from The Lunch Box. The cost of maintaining a salad bar varies depending on a number of factors: the number of fruit, vegetable and protein choices your salad bar offers, where you source your food and how well the food is managed both during preparation and in the daily maintenance of the salad bar during service. It is important to evaluate how the salad bar will be integrated into the overall school menu as its choices can replace other costs in the current meal structure.

Q. What are some ways my school can control costs in providing a salad bar?

A. The salad bar can be as simple or elaborate as your school chooses. Working with your purveyors so they understand the volume of product that will be purchased for your salad bar helps to achieve more competitive pricing; focusing your choices, especially fruits, when they are in season is another important cost saving factor; use of USDA commodity foods like diced chicken, cheese, beans, frozen corn and peas (during the winter) is also a key method to controlling salad bar costs. There is lots of detailed information in our guide.

If you have a specific question that are not answered in these Frequently Asked Questions, please check the Grant Guidelines and email info@saladbars2schools.org with 'Grant question' in the subject line.