Newton School Lunches Get Healthier

Students at Cabot and Ward elementary schools can now enjoy salad bars as part of an effort to make lunches more healthy in Newton schools.

A traveling salad bar, offering 10 different fresh fruits and vegetables, will travel to each Newton elementary school several times throughout the school year. The effort is building on a successful pilot program launched last spring, Newton’s food service provider, Whitsons School Nutrition.

The Harvest Bar was piloted last spring at Cabot Elementary and was a “huge success,” says April Liles, Whitsons food service director for the Newton Public Schools. According to Liles, student participation in the Cabot lunch program increased during the Harvest Bar pilot, according to the Newton Public Schools website.

In addition to the Harvest Bar program, Whitsons put together the first garden-to-table” menu at Newton South High School. The event on Sept. 25 featured fresh vegetables and herbs from the South Sustainable Agriculture Project, a 2,800-square-foot organic garden maintained by South students.

The lunch, titled “Little Italy Going Local,” integrated eight different produce varieties from the garden, including tomatoes, basil, oregano, arugula, eggplant, mint, parsley and spinach. Students from the Sustainable Agriculture Project collaborated with Whitsons chefs to organize the recipes and menu.