The U.S. Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) and the United Fresh Produce Association and its members, welcomed Kevin Concannon, U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services to Salinas, Calif., the largest vegetable growing region in the United States, more famously known as the ’Salad Bowl of the World.’
Concannon began the day with a tour of area grower Taylor Farms, witnessing a lettuce harvest where the company demonstrated a new harvest technology. This was followed by a tour of Mann Packing Company’s state of the art fresh-cut vegetable facility.
A highlight of the Under Secretary’s trip was the event, ’Back-to-School with Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: California Schools, Parents and Students Support Healthier School Meals.’ Taking place at local Sherwood Elementary School in Salinas, Mr. Concannon, standing in front of a salad bar filled with fresh California fruits and vegetables, discussed the importance of the new school meal standards that will double the amount of fruits and vegetables served in schools.
United Fresh Board Member and Mann Packing Company Co-Chair and Vice President of Marketing Lorri Koster, represented the produce industry at the event, highlighting the importance of serving more fresh fruits and vegetables, and the produce industry’s commitment to supplying schools.
’We are excited that Under Secretary Concannon has the opportunity to see first-hand the dedication and commitment of the fresh produce industry to supplying schools with a wide variety of fresh produce,’ said United Fresh Vice President of Nutrition and Health Dr. Lorelei DiSogra, who traveled to California to participate in the event. ’Salinas’ schools are role models for the rest of the country, providing students with lots of colorful fruits and vegetables every day.’
’I’m so happy to announce that this year our district will have seven schools participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program,’ said Dr. Donna Vaughan, superintendent of the Salinas City Elementary School District. ’This program will reach a total of 5,000 students! Also, all 13 schools in our district have salad bars, a direct result of the determination and persistence of the parents who wanted salad bars so all of our district’s children can have access to healthy options.’
’It’s my belief that it’s easy to double the amount of fruits and vegetables in school meals,’ said Rodney K. Taylor, director of nutrition services at the Riverside Unified School District, who also attended today’s events, ’I’ve been doing this for 14 years, in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and now at Riverside Unified School District, where I have salad bars in 29 of my 31 elementary schools. At Riverside, we’ve served over two million salad bar meals in the last five years. And according to a recent CDC of study of our program, kids will eat healthy, and will consume more fresh fruits and vegetables when offered a salad bar on a daily basis.’
To conclude the day, Concannon and Rep. Farr joined a group of approximately 75 produce industry leaders, school nutrition advocates and school foodservice directors, for ’Building Healthier School Meals ’ A Policy Roundtable.’ The policy roundtable focused on the produce industry’s commitment to providing healthier options for school meals. Several individuals representing the various event organizers participated in a panel discussion to further explain the importance of increasing fresh fruits and vegetables in school meals. Speaking for the produce industry was Tim York, president of Markon, Inc., who addressed the commitment of food service distributors to partner with schools to ensure children have access to both high quality and a wide variety of fresh produce every day.
’We’re an industry built on providing cost effective services that can help schools achieve the new healthier school meal guidelines,’ York said.
