Chef Ann Cooper (of The LunchBox) and Whole Foods have a vision of placing a healthy salad bar in every public school in the country, so they’ve formed The Great American Salad Bar Project (or, appropriately, GASP). To start, they’re giving away 300 salad bar kits to public schools surrounding each Whole Foods location. Schools chosen for these grants will be awarded everything they need to get their salad bars going, including necessary pan inserts, chilling pads and utensils, and training tools.
With haunting memories of school cafeteria food creeping into my brain (I honest-to-god recall throwing bologna at the ceiling and watching it stick), I immediately approved of this new project. Kids should be eating their plants. Show them how delicious they are, and not only will they be healthier, but perhaps it will also be a step toward ditching the hamburgers. Can anyone say “future tofu-munchers?”
Whole Foods
About to become the biggest Chef Ann fan ever, I was quickly disappointed to see that her website includes recipes with dead animals in them. Then, of course, there’s Whole Foods and their sales of carcasses.
But then I remembered my trip to visit my brother in Kansas earlier this year; where would I have been without all the vegan grub at the nearby Whole Foods? And as for Chef Ann, her organization’s goal of getting more healthy fruits and veggies into school cafeterias is a noble one. (Just ditch the animal products, Chef. Our kids don’t need to be munching on tortured cows while learning Arithmetic).
Photo at top of blog: Great American Salad Bar Project