As an author for The Core, a health nut, and a kid at heart, I jumped at the chance to attend the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools press conference at this week’s United Fresh 2011. In attendance were administrators and students from local schools that have benefitted from the campaign.
As a sideline observer, I watched as United staff member Andrew Marshall placed a handful of plates and a stack of napkins on the students’ table and, as he walked away, the wind blew the napkins to the floor. As Andrew knelt down to pick them up, sixth grader Gordesha Alfred immediately got up, rushed over and helped him collect the strewn stack. It was a simple gesture, but witnessing it made an impact on me.
Gordesha wasn’t moved to act because the UFPA facilitated the efforts to get a salad bar into her school cafeteria. Nor did she offer her assistance because there were hordes of press watching with cameras flashing. No, Gordesha simply helped out because she’s a polite, well-behaved, all-in-all GOOD kid. And New Orleans area schools, as well as schools across the U.S., are full of these GOOD kids. Sharp-minded, talented and sweet kids who will benefit for years, a lifetime even, from the efforts of the Salad Bar Campaign.
I had an opportunity to chat with school administrators and then the real pleasure of spending a few minutes “getting real” with three students from The Harriet Tubman Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics School. Each of their stories had a common theme – this new salad bar in their school is a welcome change, it is very much appreciated and kids are lining up to eat this fresh food!
Already eloquent, yet soft spoken Gordesha, was eager to share her thoughts about the new salad bar in her school cafeteria. Recently, she has begun running track and she’s smart enough to know that the food she feeds her body directly affects her athletic performance. Gordesha chooses sugar snap peas, watermelon & pineapple over the other processed offerings in her school. And while these decisions undoubtedly help her track & field pursuits, her family, friends and neighbors, as well as the lifelong habits she’s forming now, are also benefitting from Gordesha’s knowledge of and newly developed love for fresh, healthy food.
Eighth grader Juan Perez is president of the Harriet Tubman student government and a star player on the school’s basketball team. I felt a sudden connection with Juan as I felt like we were quite similar – except that he’s a star player on a basketball team. Good nutrition is vital for Juan to effectively govern while pop quizzing and point guarding. So, he’s a frequent visitor to the salad bar. He tries new, fresh items regularly (like honeydew melon), but his hands-down favorite is watermelon.
Juan’s buddy and fellow eighth grader, Keith Lawrence, is the strong, silent type. Also a basketballer (this kid’s gotta be a power forward or center – he’s towering!), Keith came alive when asked about his favorite new fresh food. Experiencing cantaloupe for the first time on his school’s salad bar, he now craves it, eats it every time it’s featured, and asks for it at home, as well. His passion for produce even made it ok that he roots for the Bulls and Knicks over my Mavericks.
My quick yet meaningful pow-wow with these kiddos really blew me away. Increased awareness and consumption of our industry’s products becomes simply a byproduct of the Salad Bar campaign when compared with the real reason, the RIGHT reason, for pushing this effort. I’ve always been proud of DMA Solutions’ support of A Salad Bar In Every School, but Gordesha, Juan and Keith provided me with a “hit home” moment that will exponentially boost my personal promotion of this campaign. What was once specs, charts, donations and dollar figures now has a face, a REALNESS, that will, hopefully, become a motivator for all of us – inside the industry and out – to make a salad bar in EVERY school a reality.
Posted by The Health Nut (Brock Nemecek)
