Students in Hillsborough County School District (Florida) can always choose from a variety of fresh produce in their school cafeterias, but recently the district has found new ways to get kids excited about eating their vegetables.
This spring, first graders at Mango Elementary were invited to pick fresh collard greens from their school vegetable garden. The cafeteria staff prepared the greens and handed out free samples for students to try. It was amazing to see these young children gobbling up their greens! Especially the ones grown in their own school garden!
Freedom High School students have been getting their vitamins too, thanks to the school’s new “Field of Greens” fresh-made salads. The cafeteria staff surveyed students to identify their favorite salad toppings, including apple slices, grape tomatoes, dried cranberries and cucumbers. While waiting in line, students complete order sheets requesting up to five toppings for the Iceberg/Romaine/Spinach mix. The made-to-order salad system keeps the cafeteria clean and lunch lines moving fast, and it has been a huge hit with students. Average weekly salad sales jumped from 138 up to almost 500 since “Field of Greens” was launched. This concept will be rolled out to all high schools during this school year.
I am the first grade teacher at Mango who shared the collard greens from our garden. Thanks for sharing the info! We will begin planting our fall garden in two weeks.