Discussion on:

Dole Food Company to donate salad bars, improve school lunches

I think adding salad bars to schools is a great idea. My elementary school had a salad bar as an option for lunch and most days that is what I would choose. Introducing the option at an early age will help the kids to make better decisions later in life. Some children may not have the option of fresh fruits and veggies at home so being able to offer them in schools may be their only exposure to them. But that exposure may be the begining to choosing fruits and vegetables outside the school atmosphere. If salad bars are avaliable from elementary- on through high school that is 13 years of healthy habits that can carry on through adulthood. Kids are more likley to try new thing when they are young so starting early is essiential. We need to educate kids today to swap the snickers for carrots, put some veggies on their pizza, and eat a banana or an apple everyday. Kids are influenced by what they see their parents and teachers do and eating salads will be a habit they will copy. Hopefully when given the option they will choose fresh versus prepackaged and fried. Lets teach our children healthy habits from the begining and prevent dragging, lagging, overweight, inactive kids.