TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Eighth grader Ditika Khullar said she's excited about today's new salad bar option at southwest Bakersfield's Tevis Junior High School.

Some of her friends have even pledged to eat salads the rest of the year, foregoing the usual pizza, nachos, and cookies.

"Most people don't eat healthy," she said. "But they're getting tired of that food. Salads are fresh and fun to put together."

The school's salad bar will become a regular lunch fixture, thanks to a partnership with local grower Sun World International. Educators says they're hopeful the option will help add more fruits and vegetables to students' diets, taking a small but significant step in the fight against childhood obesity.

"This is a great opportunity for us to introduce some healthier foods," Principal Robert Machado said. "I'm a fan of salad bars myself."

The concept is smart since salad bars can provide kids with more variety of fruits and vegetables and introduce them to unfamiliar ones, said Mariel Mehdipour, who works for the Kern County Department of Public Health.

"The more they're exposed, and the more readily available, the more the kids are going to eat it," Mehdipour said. "And a lot of times what kids do impacts their families."

Salad Bar Initiative

The local push joins the national "Let's Move, Salad Bars to Schools" initiative, a public health effort to support salad bars in schools. Sun World, the local pepper and grape grower, got involved through its chief executive officer Allen Vangelos. He pitched the salad bar concept to Bakersfield schools, an effort which led to a pilot program at Stonecreek Junior High, also in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District, last year.

Private industry needs to play a role in ensuring children are exposed to healthier eating habits, he said. Plus, it doesn't hurt to boost new markets for the company's fresh fruits and vegetables, Vangelos added.

Sun World and Pandol Bros., a Delano-based grape grower, shared the approximate $6,000 cost for the salad bar installation at Stonecreek last year. The school supplies the ingredients and sells the salads for $2.20.

Marilou Onaindia, the district's nutrition services manager, helped create a year's worth of themed menus in an effort to keep students engaged in eating healthy. The school's salad bar included the standard chef's salad, but also boasted creative twists such as Chinese chicken salad, a veggie-laden baked potato bar, and deli sandwiches piled high with fresh fixings.

"We got a huge response from kids--they absolutely loved it," she said. "It was so exciting to see the kids eating the beautiful salads they'd created."

She watched with delight as some students added every imaginable vegetable and fruit while others carefully selected a simple tomato, onion, and pepper medley with vinaigrette.

The effort paid off. Last year, participation in the school lunch program increased by 25 percent. Nearly half of the school's 770 students buy a salad daily.

That positive turnout was surprising to teacher Eric Olinger, who initially thought it wouldn't work. Olinger said he was shocked to see the salad bar line grow to three times the size of the "pizza and everything else" line.

But, after trying the bar himself, he could see why the students were drawn to the fruits and vegetables.

"It's fresh and there's something new every day," he said. "It's like a restaurant -- even guests to the school eat there."

Eighth grader Brandon Baxter visits the salad bar about three times a week, piling his plate high with his favorites: carrots and croutons. He said he can consume as much as he wants without worrying about negative health effects, an important consideration for the avid baseball player.

"If I don't have energy, I look forward to going to the salad bar," he said. "It helps me get through the rest of the day."

Organizers are hoping to get a similar response when Tevis opens its salad bar today. Onaindia said the district chose that school in part because its dining space made a salad bar more feasible. Limited room in school multipurpose areas is a key challenge, though the district is eager to grow the program, she said.

Sun World's Vangelos said the group will revisit the program's expansion every year.

At Tevis, students say they're ready to embrace the new option.

"A lot of kids are saying, 'I can't wait for the salad bar,;" said Sam Stauch, an 8th grader. "Kids like something new. They want to try new things."