A fresh approach
Seventeen Toronto elementary schools now offer salad bar programs at lunch
JENNIFER BAIN

Toronto Star
October 5, 2005

KEITH BEATY/TORONTO STAR
James S. Bell Junior Middle School offers a salad bar twice a week as an alternative to its hot lunch program, which is an alternative to the bring-your-own-lunch option. More than 100 kids serve themselves

Here's what a sampling of lunches looks like on salad bar days at James S. Bell Junior Middle School in Long Branch:
One strawberry, mini cups of green olives and applesauce, two rolls, four cheese cubes and four cucumber rounds.
Three carrot sticks, three cheese cubes, one roll and two strawberries.
One roll, a mini cup of applesauce, two pineapple pieces, two cheese cubes, two meatballs, two cucumber rounds and one piece of cantaloupe.
Of course, these are just preliminary plates. There's enough for seconds, thirds ...

That last plateful is the work of Jennifer Kang, who's 11 years old and in Grade 6.
Like most kids, she knows what she likes and dislikes. And she expresses herself simply.
She thinks her school's salad bar lunch is "good." She specifically appreciates how "things are like fresh" and how "you get to eat healthy stuff."

See — there's not a can of pop, packaged cookie, bag of chips or packaged fruit rollup in sight in this Etobicoke lunchroom.
There are raw veggies (caesar salad and mixed greens, carrots, cukes, broccoli, cauliflower, green olives and grape tomatoes), fruits (watermelon, applesauce, pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries, apples and peaches), proteins (homemade meatballs in tomato sauce, chickpeas, red kidney beans, cheese cubes) and grains (white rolls today, though it's usually whole-wheat, breadsticks and melba toasts).

And, most importantly, there are kids actually eating it all. (With bottled water and chocolate milk to wash it down.)

James S. Bell is one of 17 schools now taking part at least once a week in the Salad Bars in School program, which launched as a pilot in mid-2002 courtesy of FoodShare Toronto.

In fact, more than 75,000 Toronto students eat healthy breakfasts, lunches or snacks in one of more than 400 self-managed programs running out of more than 350 schools and community sites.

Like the salad bar option, each program helps cut the fat, salt, sugar, chemicals and packaging so prevalent in many "convenient" student lunches.
Over in England, the BBC reports that schools have until September to wipe their lunch menus and vending machines of junk food. (This is thanks in no small part to public pressure sparked by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's exposé television series, Jamie's School Dinners.)

Schools there will get more money to boost food standards, but they'll be monitored and penalized if they don't comply.

Ah, money — if it's not the problem then space is.
While schools in England anticipate bigger and better cafeteria kitchens, schools here (elementary ones, at least) often use their gyms as makeshift lunchrooms. Staff arranges tables and chairs, whisks kids in and out in 20 to 30 minutes (often without access even to a microwave), and cleans up quickly to get the gym ready for the afternoon.

James S. Bell, with about 460 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 8, is one of the lucky schools — it has space for two lunchrooms. There's one in the gym for kids with packed lunches, and there's one in a smaller room (with a kitchen) for the 100 or so hot lunch/salad bar students.
It's an ideal situation.

On salad bar days (Wednesdays and Thursdays), food is laid out on long tables, so kids can serve themselves from either side. And since everybody's eating pretty much the same thing, there's no coveting thy neighbour's lunch, no swapping and no getting bad ideas about junk to beg your parents for.

Instead, there's just nutrition coordinator Pat Elnor and assistant Shelley Mills-Hughes overseeing the food and kids with the help of student volunteers.

"We try to encourage them to take at least four colours," says Elnor. "That way they try something they think they hate."
Indeed, a main salad bar principle is to offer food instead of serving it. Empowered kids choose what and how much they eat. They can opt for one bite of something new (like one chickpea) instead of an intimidating full serving.

"I've felt so healthy since I started eating salad bar," says principal Jan Davies, who joins some of her teachers in lining up (like the kids) for the salad bar.

Staff pays $3 per meal, while students pay $2. Technically, it's a donation (not a fee) that's paid monthly and that's negotiable for those in need. Each school sets its prices and devises its menus (culturally appropriate, halal, kosher, etc.).

FoodShare Toronto — a charity that works with communities to improve access to affordable, healthy food — has a training manual complete with recipes so any school can create a salad bar. (See http://www.foodshare.net.) It also oversees the food orders.

Salad bars can be prepared simply and served on tables, like at James S. Bell. Or they can get fancy with dishes like Moroccan red bean dip, vegetarian chili and roasted root vegetables that are served from mobile salad bar carts available from FoodShare.

Either way, there is much to eat and learn from salad bars.
Ryan Hamilton, 9, learned to like mini Granny Smith apples. (They're too small for supermarkets and are discounted.)
Darcy Moore, 12, discovered that other kids actually like "nasty" bell peppers.

Selia Lewkoski, 11, realized kids can be fussy and messy.
Ashley Seguin, 11, learned that eating a sandwich for lunch leaves her hungry, while eating at the salad bar fills her up.

What no one says, but surely some must realize, is that it's one thing to focus on what kids shouldn't be eating and to try to ban junk food and vending machines in schools.

It's another thing to figure out creative ways to pump kids full of the good stuff, while inspiring an appetite for healthy eating.