Rodney K. Taylor, Director

Nutrition Services

Riverside Unified School District

THE “FARMERS’ MARKET

SALAD BAR” PROGRAM

A FARM-TO-SCHOOL INITIATIVE

Riverside Unified School District is California’s 15th

largest school district

Enrollment of 44,000 students

47 school sites

– 31 Elementary, 7 Middle, 7 High Schools, 1 Continuation, 1 Adult

Average Daily Participation (ADP) – 32,000 meals served

60% of students eligible for free/reduced price meals,

coming from at-risk families

1997 – Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

Robert Gottlieb, Professor at Occidental College, and the

Director of the Urban Environmental Policy Institute

Two-week trial with Childcare Development Department

California Nutrition Network Grant

Pilot Program – McKinley Elementary School

Improve children’s health by encouraging the

consumption of nutritious foods

Provide students with access to fresh fruits and

vegetables on a daily basis

Teach students to become life-long healthy

eaters

Provide an untapped market for the small farmer

District purchases fruits and vegetables directly from

local farmers

Orders are placed a week in advance and produce is

delivered to Central Kitchen

Produce is prepared at Central Kitchen and delivered

to schools to be served at lunch

Complementary classroom activities support the goals

and round out program

Staff

Farmers’ Market Salad Bar

Salad Bar Coordinator

Area Managers

Food Service Staff per School

Educational Components

Program Educator

Training Farmers’ Market Salad Bar

Nutrition Services staff are trained in three ways:

1. Kitchen Operators spend time at another school that has a salad bar to learn the system

2. The Salad Bar Coordinator teaches staff the salad bar system and provides monthly salad bar in-services

3. Taste Test day

Materials Farmers’ Market Salad Bar

The cost for all salad bar equipment is $6,777 (according to 2009 prices).

How It Works Farm to School programs are a unique way to forge a partnership among

the school, the community, and the farmers who produce the food.

Getting Started

Plan/arrange for start-up funding

Schools should look beyond the traditional sources for grant funding

Develop a working relationship with the school’s business

manager/purchasing director.

Locate the nearest farmers’ market and visit the market.

Set up a meeting with the farmers’ market manager.

Go to the farmers’ market early, before it opens to

customers, to talk to farmers.

Establish a Salad Bar Coordinator position.

Establish pick up, sorting and delivery procedures for

produce.

Operating the Salad Bar Design the menu

Consider the following questions:

Will this be a lunch option that will serve as a reimbursable

meal?

Will it be used only as the fruit and vegetable component of

the hot lunch?

Will it be offered every day?

Will the hot lunch dessert also be served at the salad bar?

How will variety be incorporated into the salad bar?

What are the nutritional requirements for the option selected?

FARMERS’ MARKET SALAD BAR CYCLE MENU 2010/2011

MONDAY

Meat/Meat Alternate (select 3)

Cheese – shredded or diced

Ham – diced

Boiled eggs – cut in 4ths

Peanut butter

TUESDAY

Meat/Meat Alternate (select 3)

Tuna salad

Ham – diced

Peanut butter

Fajita, chicken strips

WEDNESDAY

Meat/Meat Alternate (select 3)

Cheese – shredded or diced

Fajita, chicken strips

Peanut butter

Cottage cheese

Vegetables (select 5)

Lettuce mix*

Carrots – peeled & sliced in sticks

Celery – sliced in sticks

Broccoli – bite size

Tomatoes

Seasonal veggies

Vegetables (select 5)

Lettuce mix*

Carrots – peeled & sliced in sticks

Celery – sliced in sticks

Cauliflower –bite size

Tomatoes

Seasonal veggies

Vegetables (select 5)

Lettuce mix*

Carrots – peeled & sliced

Celery – sliced in sticks

Broccoli – bite size

Tomatoes

Seasonal veggies

Fruits (select 5)

Trail mix

Apple – sliced

Orange - wedges

Strawberries - sliced

Tangerines

Seasonal fruit

Mellon

Fruits (select 5)

Trail mix

Apple – sliced

– wedges

Strawberries – sliced

Grapes

Seasonal fruit

Melon

Fruits (select 5)

Trail mix

Apple – sliced

Orange - wedges

Tangerines

Kiwi

Seasonal fruit

Bread (select 3)

Dinner rolls

Croutons*

Crackers*

Pasta * To be used daily: Secondary side

Bread (select 3)

Dinner rolls

Croutons*

Crackers*

Pasta

Bread (select 3)

Dinner rolls

Croutons*

Crackers*

Pasta

Salad Bar Specials

Soup Bar Build a Better Burger Build a Bowl of Chili Stuff a Submarine

Chicken Noodle Soup Burgers Bowl of Chili Small sour dough roll

Crackers (Saltine) Buns Beef Crumble Sliced red onions

Gold fish crackers Sliced Onion Chopped onion/red Sliced tomatoes

Sliced Tomatoes Chopped bell peppers Sliced green peppers

Pickles, chips Shredded cheese Sliced cheese

Sliced green Peppers Chopped tomatoes Sliced pickles

Lettuce Taco chips/Fritos or corn Banana peppers

Cheese slices Corn/canned Sliced cucumbers

Sliced Cucumbers Jalapeños/ canned Coleslaw

1000's dressing Sliced mushrooms Shredded cheese

Avocado Cilantro Turkey

Chili Sour cream Pepperoni

Black olives Ham

Guacamole

Baked Potato Bar Nacho Bar Pasta Salad Bar Top a Taco salad Bar

Baked potatoes Tortilla Pasta Filled taco shells

Taco meat Jalapeños canned) Lettuce Beef crumble

Nacho cheese Cilantro Tomatoes Refried beans

Chopped onions Green onion Sliced carrots Sour cream

Shredded cheese Cherry tomatoes Chopped onions Salsa

Kidney beans Kidney beans Peas Chopped tomatoes

Tomatoes Corn Shredded cheese Black olives

Sour cream Lettuce Broccoli Jalapenos

Broccoli Carrots Cauliflower Sliced mushrooms

Jalapenos Cucumber Sliced zucchini Shredded cheese

Butter Jicama Sliced pepperoni Cilantro

Salsa Sliced black olives Guacamole

Black olives Tuna Chopped onions

Taco meat Italian dressing

Shred cheese

Nacho cheese

Sour cream

Begin a marketing campaign.

Provide in-service training for cafeteria staff.

Plan and hold a Grand Opening.

Educating students

Harvest of the Month

School gardens

Farmer visits, chef visits, farm field trips, and farmers’

market field trips

Cooking carts

FARMERS’ MARKET IS NOT JUST A SALAD; IT’S A PROGRAM

FARM TOURS

POSTER CONTESTS

GARDEN PROJECTS

SALAD BAR FEATURE DAYS

FARMERS’ MARKET TOURS

CLASSROOM COOKING CARTS

TEACHERS 2-1 COUPONS ISSUED MONTHLY

NUTRITION FOOD ITEMS AVAILABLE FOR COOKING LESSONS

Gain support of the administration, school board,

nutrition services staff, teachers, parents, and

students.

Work with farmers who are interested and excited to

be selling to schools.

Promote the salad bar to everyone (principals,

teachers, students, parents, school food service

staff, etc.).

Be flexible.

Ensure the program is revenue-neutral.

Acquiring start-up funds

Bureaucratic policies and procedures that are

inflexible

Resistance to change

Lack of creative thinking when it comes to

addressing the obesity/overweight problem

Labor intensive

Up front cost for equipment and labor

Purchasing / Bid Process

Invoicing / Payments

Staffing / Volunteers

Delivery Systems

Provides access to fresh fruits and vegetables on a

daily basis → successfully modifies student’s eating

habits

Links Cafeteria/Classroom/Garden program and

provides nutrition education & outdoor laboratory

Lowers food cost, reduces waste

Increases participation, increases revenue

Changes in perception of food service program

Nutrition Program plays a significant role in

augmenting the educational processes in a school

district

REACH

29 elementary schools and 24,077 students

EFFECTIVENESS

Provides greater access to fresh fruits and

vegetables

Increases fruit and vegetable consumption among

those children who choose the salad bar

Does not decrease revenue per child nor

productivity of nutrition services staff

Provides market for local farmers

ADOPTION

29 elementary schools have adopted the program and

an average of 26% of students choose the salad bar on

a given day.

IMPLEMENTATION

Positive responses from students, nutrition services

staff, teachers, and farmers

MAINTENANCE

Program sustained since 2005

Program has resulted in positive relationships between

nutrition services and students, teachers, and

administrators.

176 days served → total of 565,134 student meals purchased

Total adults meals served: 3,710 (06-07) ; 7,640 (07-08)

Students have access to

fresh fruits and vegetables

on a daily basis

The Nutrition Services

Department has a healthy

bottom-line while

promoting life-long

healthy eating habits

The small local farmer has an untapped market to

sell their products

FMSB serves as a replicable “international model”

2011-2012 school year

Fresh fruit only

Frozen or canned fruit will no longer be used for

salad bar or hot bar meals

Salad bar first

In a minimum of 3 schools, students will be

required go through the salad bar first to get

their entire meal or sides

Shifting the center of the plate away from the

entrée