Committed to increasing healthier options for students, H-E-B will donate seven salad bars to elementary schools in Seguin Independent School District in Texas, a district where 69 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. The self-serve produce bars are made possible through a partnership with Dole Food Co. and will feature a wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables to boost new choices for students at breakfast and lunch.  

“H-E-B is committed to the well-being of Texans and we have a responsibility to take leadership in improving the health of our communities,” Hugh Topper, group vice president of fresh for H-E-B, said in a press release. “In particular, investing in our children has the power to change the way future generations see the importance of health and wellness in their lives.”H-E-B and Dole will donate seven salad bars to elementary schools in Seguin Independent School District in Texas.

Representatives of H-E-B and Dole were joined by leadership from United Fresh Produce Association, Chartwells, Seguin ISD and local and state officials to present Rodriguez Elementary School in Seguin with a new salad bar at a celebration event.

“With one-third of the nation’s children either overweight or obese, we need to look at new ways to encourage healthier eating,” Bil Goldfield, Dole’s director of corporate communications, said in a press release. “It’s important to start the nutrition conversation, and offer tangible healthy alternatives, as early in childhood as possible. By offering permanent salad bars stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables, we are hopefully establishing healthier eating habits that will last a lifetime.”

The salad bar donations from H-E-B and Dole were organized in conjunction with the United Fresh Start Foundation, a founding partner of the national Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative. To date, the initiative has facilitated the donation of salad bars to more than 4,100 schools nationwide, benefitting nearly 3 million children every school day.  
H-E-B’s Topper serves on the board of trustees of the United Fresh Start Foundation.

“We are pleased to partner with H-E-B and Dole to provide salad bars to schools in this area of the country, ensuring students here will have access to more fresh produce, and healthier options at lunch,” Tom Stenzel, president and chief executive officer of the United Fresh Produce Association, said in the release. “Salad bars empower students to make healthy choices and get kids excited to eat their fruits and veggies at school and beyond.”

Seguin ISD and its foodservice vendor, Chartwells, have pledged to continually stock the salad bars with fresh produce options, ensuring that children get exposure to fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.

New USDA nutrition standards for school lunch require schools to dramatically increase the amount and variety of fruits and vegetable served to students each day, and salad bars are the easiest way for schools to meet these requirements. Research and experience in schools across the country demonstrate that children significantly increase their fruit and vegetable consumption when given a variety of choices in a school salad bar. When offered multiple fruit and vegetable choices, children respond by incorporating greater variety and increasing their overall consumption.

“We are all very excited about this new salad bar, which will reinforce nutrition education messages while providing students the ability to select from a variety of fruit and vegetable options each day,” Stetson Roane, Seguin ISD superintendent, said in the release.   

Additionally, Rodriguez Elementary School is already a site for the Sow Healthy Intergenerational Garden initiative that gets children out of the classroom and into the garden. Sow Healthy brings together students and seniors in the community to tend and harvest the crops, side-by-side. The program provides another opportunity of ensuring children are exposed to fruits and vegetables in a fun and tangible way.