The Partnership
The Salad Bars to Schools partnership was founded by the Chef Ann Foundation, National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, United Fresh Start Foundation, and Whole Foods Market in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Initiative.
The program is currently a partnership of the Chef Ann Foundation and Whole Kids Foundation.
Our Goal
Providing healthy eating opportunities for kids in schools is imperative. Today, the U.S. has more than 38,000,000 primary school children, and according to data from The Center for Disease Control and Prevention:
- Obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has almost tripled since 1980.
- Approximately 17% (12.5 million) of children and adolescents ages 2 – 19 years are obese.
- Obese children and adolescents have a greater risk of social and psychological problems, such as discrimination and poor self-esteem.
- Obese children are more likely to become obese adults. Adult obesity is associated with a number of serious health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.
- One out of every three Caucasian children and one out of every two Hispanic and African American children born in the year 2000 will contract diabetes in their lifetime.
Our goal is for every school in the United States to have a salad bar as part of their school food service program so that every child—from elementary school, to middle school, to high school—has daily access to fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and healthy proteins.