Gwinnett Daily Post

SUWANEE -- Thanks to a donation from the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, four local schools are getting new salad bars for children to enjoy in cafeterias.

The foundation donated four salad bars, one to each school, as part of the organization's Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools efforts. Local schools benefiting include Knight Elementary, Berkmar Middle, Couch Middle and Buice School.

"Salad bars allow our students to build their own salads, experiment with fruits and veggies they may not be familiar with and get creative with healthy foods," said Karen Hallford, the district's registered dietitian. "They can also choose the items they love or change things up from day to day."

Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools is a national effort to increase the amount and variety of fruits and vegetables in school lunchrooms.

The donations are part of the foundation's ongoing work to reduce childhood obesity and improve youth fitness in Georgia.

School nutrition professionals hope the new way of serving salads at the schools will encourage students to make a healthy choice.

"Students are our customers, and students like the variety and options available at salad bars," said Ken Yant, Gwinnett's director of the school nutrition program. "With well stocked salad bars, we can make the healthy choice the easy choice.

According to its website, the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation helps nonprofit organizations reduce childhood obesity and improve youth fitness. The foundation was established in 1985 to serve as the philanthropic arm of the Atlanta Falcons.