Dedham Schools Could Win Grant for Salad Bar

Dedham schools could soon become a bit healthier and a bit fresher – if residents can raise enough money.

Whole Foods, which has a Legacy Place location, partnered with the Salad Bar Project to give a local school the equipment to put a salad bar in the school.

"In the public school system, sometimes they have a very small budget to work with, so it is very difficult to get healthy meals prepared," said Klatsky.

The idea, Klatsky said, is to bring fresh fruits and vegetables into the mouths of students.

"The salad bar would be nice because [a school] may not have the space to keep fresh fruits and vegetables cold," she said.

Processed foods lack many of the nutrients that fresh food provides, giving kids an alternative and a way to stay – or get – healthy, said Elizabeth Quigley, a registered dietician at Dedham Health and Athletic Club.

"Any opportunity to increase a child's fruit and vegetable consumption is a good one," said Quigley, who's worked in nutrition for more than 25 years.

The Salad Bar Project and Whole Foods hope to provide one $2,500-dollar salad bar – the equipment, not the food – to a school within 50 miles of a Whole Foods store.

"But I hope we get one within five or 10 miles," Klatsky said.

The $2,500 comes from donations by locals either in the Legacy Place grocery store, or online. If a store goes over the goal, the remaining money will be allocated to a store's project that fell short.

Each salad bar will include a portable salad bar, insert pans, cutting boards, knives and shipping costs. Schools also could receive information and training on nutrition and healthy eating through the Lunch Box online toolkit.

"It's definitely good that they are trying to focus on getting back to basic, unprocessed, whole foods," Quigley said.

Schools will have to apply through an online grant application to be put in the running. One applicant per representing store will receive the salad bar.

Applicants can file starting Sept. 1. The winning application will focus on a couple of areas, Klatsky said. Need – free and reduced lunch counts will be taken into account – and commitments from the school are two of the bigger parts of the application.

The goal of the program is to make lunch healthier and reduce obesity in kids, Klatsky said.

"We want to get kids on the right track early in life before it is too late," she said.