Dole, Hy-Vee bring healthier food to Iowa schools

BOONE, Iowa — Dole Food Company partnered with Hy-Vee Food Stores to donate five salad bars to schools in the central Iowa area at the United Community School in Boone, Iowa. The salad bars were 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.



“Research has shown that it can take at least 10 exposures to a new food before it is accepted by children,” said Marty Ordman, Dole’s VP marketing and corporate communications. “Salad bars can increase exposure to new fruits and vegetables and create a sense of ownership for students through the selection process. And from what we are seeing, students are trying – and liking – almost everything that is being offered to them.”



In November 2010, Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, a grassroots public health initiative working in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Initiative was created. The partners of the initiative, including Dole, share a vision to significantly increase the number of salad bars in schools across the country until every child has the choice of healthy fruits and vegetables every day at school. This initiative goes hand in hand with the new standards from USDA, which aims to offer more nutritious choices for kids, including whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and school flavored milk that is lower in sugar and calories than ever before.