New Salad Program From Top 100 Grower Promotes Healthy Eating

By Growing Produce Staff|August 18, 2011

Salinas, CA- based Tanimura & Antle is running a fall 2011 product promotion called Salad Smarts to support two healthy eating school initatives: Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools and Freggie’s Children’s Programs
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During the course of this three-month promotion, Tanimura & Antle will promote each cause through various communication efforts including new high impact packaging, in-store graphic materials, print and online trade, and a promotional website featuring Tanimura & Antle Artisan Lettuce.

Let’s Move Salads Bars to Schools is a public health campaign to provide salad bars to schools across the country in order to increase children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables at school lunch. Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools supports First Lady Michelle Obama’s Lets Move! initiative to end childhood obesity in a generation and is featured on the Let’s Move blog (www.letsmove.gov) monthly.

United Fresh Produce Association is one of the founding partners of the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools campaign. According to Dr. Lorelei DiSogra, vice president of nutrition and health ay United Fresh, although 800 schools have received salad bars during the last year, there are more than 500 schools nation-wide that have applied for salad bars and are awaiting funding. “We appreciate Tanimura & Antle’s leadership in the produce department to engage the public in our efforts to support healthier school meals and providing essential cafeteria equipment, like salad bars, to schools,” she says.

The second initiative, Freggie Children’s Programs, designed by the Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) focuses on teaching kids about the importance of eating fruits and veggies in a fun and engaging manner. A donation to the children’s program will support the various activities and help provide materials for the school programs.

With USDA’s new “Make Half Your Plate Fruits and Vegetables” recommendation (www.choosemyplate.gov) and the new Back to School season upon us, the Salad Smarts message will resonate with consumers on several levels. “Our intention is to raise the visibility of Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools and Freggie Children’s Programs and educate our consumers on how they, too, can become involved in teaching our next generation how to make healthier food choices,” said Rick Antle, Tanimura & Antle CEO.