Dole Food Company Partners with Giant Food Stores to Donate Salad Bars to Parkland School District

30 May 2013 --- “Salad bar donations are a natural extension of Dole’s ongoing commitment to childhood nutrition,” said Marty Ordman, Dole’s Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications. “Giant Food Stores have been a part of Pennsylvania communities for over 90 years. Their dedication to making sure that young people are living healthier lives matches our passion at Dole. We are proud to partner with them for this project.”

Dole Food Company (DOLE) and Giant Food Stores were joined by Congressman Charlie Dent and State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie to celebrate the donation of two salad bars to schools in the Parkland School District at the Fogelsville Elementary School. 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 2,491 salad bars serving more than 1,245,500 children across the country.

The event underscored the practical actions schools can take to combat the growing obesity epidemic through healthy lunch options. As schools work diligently to comply with the USDA new nutrition standards for school lunches, salad bars serve as a reasonably priced, attractive option to increase our students’ consumption of fruits and vegetables.

“Salad bar donations are a natural extension of Dole’s ongoing commitment to childhood nutrition,” said Marty Ordman, Dole’s Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications. “Giant Food Stores have been a part of Pennsylvania communities for over 90 years. Their dedication to making sure that young people are living healthier lives matches our passion at Dole. We are proud to partner with them for this project.”

“GIANT has a long-standing commitment to eradicate hunger and improve the quality of life for children in addition to working with hundreds of local organizations annually,” said Jeff Beaulieu, Vice President, Sales and Merchandising, Giant Food Stores. “When children have the chance to sample fresh fruits and vegetables at school, they’re more likely to ask for them at home. This is a wonderful example of how schools and businesses can work together to create healthier communities.”

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.