PMA donates salad bar to school

Produce Marketing Association (PMA), a member of the National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, donated a salad bar to John R. Downes Elementary School in Newark, Del., on Friday, May 11, as part of its commitment to increasing children’s consumption of fresh produce. The donation is in support of the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools and the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiatives, which focus on providing students access to healthy foods.

The donation kicked-off with a pep rally during the students’ lunch hour where they were greeted by Wilmington Blue Rocks’ Mr. Celery, Congressman John Carney, Newark Mayor Vance Funk and Bryan Silbermann, PMA’s president and CEO.

“It’s important that young people learn how to eat healthy at an early age. We know that children who eat a healthy diet are much more likely to continue good eating habits as they grow older,” said Carney. “I’m very pleased that students at Downes Elementary will now have this salad bar among the other healthy options they can choose from at lunch. Making sure every child has a nutritious lunch will give them more energy and help them perform better in school.”

In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine concluded schools need to add as many as two servings of fruits and vegetables daily to meet children's basic health requirements. Recent rules from USDA require a doubling of fruit and vegetable offerings for school meals.

To learn more about PMA, visit www.pma.com. Visit www.saladbars2schools.org to learn more about the Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative, and www.letsmove.gov to learn about the Let's Move initiative.