Tasteful salad days
Michael Miller
The California Nutrition Network’s A to Z Salad Bar at TeWinkle
Middle School didn’t quite cover the entire alphabet -- there aren’t
any known fruits or vegetables that start with U or X, and the
organizers decided to pass on Q.
“Q was probably quince, but those are little crab apples,” said
Sharon Moore, grant project nutritionist for the Newport-Mesa Unified
School District. “They’re not very edible and not in season.”
Regardless, the salad bar, which extended across the multipurpose
room at TeWinkle on Thursday, featured as full a display of produce
as middle school students are likely to see. Among the more obscure
offerings on the menu were romaine lettuce, garbanzo beans, endive
and daikon -- a root vegetable that often graces Japanese cooking.
This year at TeWinkle, one of the associated student body’s
ongoing projects has been working with the Newport-Mesa district to
enhance cafeteria nutrition. Recently, the student body suggested
hosting the A to Z Salad Bar, which the California Nutrition Network
also held at Estancia High School in November.
At lunchtime Thursday, network officials and student body members
set up tables along one end of Boswell Hall, with bowls full of
fruits and vegetables in alphabetical order from right to left.
Students could pick up as much free produce as they wanted, from
apples to zucchini.
“When I was in middle school, I know I didn’t get enough fruits
and vegetables,” Principal Dan Diehl said. “Every kid this age could
eat more. I really see this kind of emphasis and promotion in schools
as beneficial for kids -- not just in terms of health, but it also
helps them focus in class.”
Members of the student body acted as servers behind the counter
during the event. Throughout this year, ASB advisor Shelley Lang
said, the class representatives have worked to improve school health,
even helping with cafeteria meals.
“In the mornings, they’ve gone into the cafeteria and helped make
salads, fruit and yogurt,” Lang said. “They’ve made suggestions to
the school, and their suggestions have been taken.”
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