March 2002
State schools chief visits "Crunch Lunch" salad bars in Davis
Students are proud of their colorful, fruit-vegetable-protein-bread balanced lunches. (photo by Lyra Halprin)
DAVIS -- Delaine Eastin, California's superintendent of public instruction, will tour the locally famous "Crunch Lunch" Salad Bars at two Davis schools Wednesday (March 20). Eastin, a longtime supporter of school gardens and fresh food in school cafeterias, will visit educational projects at César Chavez and Pioneer elementary schools, two of the three Davis schools that have added the Crunch Lunch salad bar option to the standard entrée selection. Crunch Lunch is -a complete meal that includes local seasonal fruits and vegetables.
"The Crunch Lunch salad bar builds on our vision of a garden in every school where the kids are growing healthy food and have a chance to eat some of the seasonal fresh foods, some grown by local farmers, for their school lunch," said Eastin. "The salad bar reinforces what they're learning in the school garden -- fresh fruits and vegetables are good to eat, and are part of a healthy diet. That's critical as we track an alarming trend in childhood obesity."
Birch Lane Elementary School has also begun providing the Crunch Lunch Salad Bar option for students.
"The students are enthusiastic about the Crunch Lunch, and enjoy the wide variety and very colorful options to put on their lunch trays," says Rafaelita Curva, director of student nutrition services for the Davis Joint Unified School District, noting the popularity of the green lettuce and spinach, red blood oranges, yellow cheese, turkey ham, white cottage cheese and red strawberries available at the child-size salad bars. "We're thrilled students at these schools are getting the chance to enjoy this lunch option."
"We've worked hard to expand the Crunch Lunch salad bars within the school district, and are grateful for all the volunteer energy put into implementing the pilot programs," said Page Lee Webb, president of the Davis Educational Foundation. Parents, educators, and community members make up the group's Farm to School Connection project, which has raised money to establish salad bars in area schools and link them to school gardens, cooking in the classroom, composting and recycling activities, and tours of local farms. Pioneer Elementary started Crunch Lunch last spring, while Chavez and Birch Lane added the option last month.
The following agencies and organizations have awarded grants to the Farm to School Connection for the salad bar program: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the California Department of Education/Nutrition Services Division, the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, the Chez Panisse Foundation, the Sunrise Rotary Club of Davis, Kiwanis of Greater Davis, Soroptimist/Venture Club, Davis Farmers Market, Pioneer Elementary School PTA, César Chavez Elementary School PTA, Birch Lane Elementary School PTA.
"We've seen in Santa Monica and in Berkeley that getting fresh produce into the schools also benefits small- and medium-sized farms," says Gail Feenstra, a food-systems analyst at the UC Davis-based statewide Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP), who is doing an evaluation of the salad bar through a grant from the USDA's Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food systems. "It's exciting for our statewide program to be involved in this Davis effort to help kids eat well and see where their food comes from." SAREP has funded two related reports, "Kids Cook Farm Fresh Food," available from the California Department of Education, and "Healthy Farms, Healthy Kids," available at www.foodsecurity.org.
Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr, a UCD-based Cooperative Extension nutrition specialist, is doing an overlapping evaluation to the project for the California Department of Education's SHAPE Program to encourage healthy eating and improve student nutrition through farmers market salad bars and school gardens. Carol Hillhouse, director of the UCD Children's Garden at the Student Experimental Farm, is coordinating teacher training for the school gardens through the SHAPE grant. A third grant, from the California Integrated Waste Management Board, stimulated composting projects and reduced waste from lunch programs. Vermiculture (worm) composting projects are in place at three participating elementary schools.
Media Contacts:
Lyra Halprin, (530) 752-8664, lhalprin@ucdavis.edu
