I have never been a huge fan of Whole Foods, despite my affinity for great produce and knowledgeable employees.  It might be my imagination, but that store has always been a little too snooty for me.  I love grocery shopping, but am not looking to pick up my game before I hit the market.  That said, I read today that the grocery chain granted over 500 salad bars to schools due to a fundraising campaign they ran last September.  This campaign, called the Salad Bar Project, generated donations totaling $1.4million.  I love this idea, and loved this even more:

“To make an even larger impact in lunchrooms across the country, Whole Foods Market announced it is a founding partner of Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, whose goal is to provide 6,000 salad bars across the nation by 2013.”

Knowing all the garbage that many kids eat at school (corn dogs, microwaved pizzas, french fries, etc.) – in the absence of healthy options – this fundraiser is a big step in the right direction towards getting kids to eat better, and forming healthier habits, hopefully for life.  Cheers to Whole Foods for this effort.

What do you think of this campaign?  Does this affect your opinion of Whole Foods?

H/t to Eater for the scoop.  The press release is here.

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JT

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7 Responses

  1. Frank Won

    I personally love Whole Foods. As a new parent and a lover of good foods myself, I think it’s important to have access to high quality foods, especially those that are organic. Whole Foods represents to me an excellent one-stop shop for all of my organic food needs, especially since we also make almost all of our own baby food. I used to think that it was just an overpriced grocery store, but after searching for alternatives for organic food shopping, I really do find that I prefer WFM to the others for their quality of products / produce as well as variety.

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  2. Frank Won

    Regarding the campaign, I think that it’s an amazing initiative. After seeing Jaime Oliver’s TV spot on food/nutrition education in America, I was absolutely disgusted by what some public schools consider to be a balanced meal. My favorite segment was one where a lunch server in charge of choosing menus considered french fries a vegetable.

    It made me so sad to think that my child will have to grow up in a system where ignorant people may be feeding him. Just HAVING the option of a salad bar is an enormous leap in the right direction. Perhaps with this campaign, more schools will get the idea and start implementing salad bars on their own.

    In my profession, there are a lot of studies that basically predict human responses. For instance, patients who do not have more disposable contact lenses are more likely to abuse their current lenses and wear them beyond their scheduled disposal simply because they don’t feel they have the choice. Similarly, patients who don’t have a set of back up spectacles (glasses) will more likely abuse their contact lenses simply because they don’t have the choice. Even still, however, some with the available choice will still abuse their lenses and wind up in my office with horrible infections.

    I postulate that school-aged children and adolescents will more likely abuse their diets if they don’t have healthier choices. This is not to say that a salad bar will save them all from obesity, but the choice is what matters. Some will undoubtedly choose chicken nuggets over a spinach salad, but having the choice can mean the difference between total cholesterol of 300 for a 12 year old and 125.

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  3. Mark

    I love the imitative and hope that it is one of many taken on by other stores/businesses. I live in a district with a high percentage of underprivileged kids. Their only meals are often the free breakfast and lunch provided by the schools. If those meals were healthier it would hopefully give those kids a shot to be healthier adults

    As far as whole foods goes, meh, we don’t’ have one in my area. However when I have shopped at them elsewhere they are not as good as our local chain.

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  4. Cynthia

    I kind of agree with you on the snooty feel of Whole Foods, but GOOD FOR THEM for doing something like this for the kids of the community. Wish one was coming to my kid’s school….

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  6. Smiley

    Whole Foods shows a superb one-stop buy all of my organic food wants, particularly since we tend to conjointly build the majority of our own baby food.
    I appreciate the hope that it’s one among several taken on by alternative businesses. I board a part with a high proportion of unfortunate youngsters. Their solely meals square measure typically the free breakfast and lunch given by schools.

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