Local Company Partners with World’s Largest Producer of Fruits and
Vegetables to Complement School Lunch Options for Parkland School
District Students
BREINIGSVILLE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 29, 2013--
Today, Dole Food Company (NYSE:DOLE) and Giant Food Stores were joined
by Congressman Charlie Dent and State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie to celebrate
the donation of two salad bars to schools in the Parkland School
District at the Fogelsville Elementary School. The salad bars were
donated as a part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools
initiative, which has donated more than 2,491 salad bars serving more
than 1,245,500 children across the country.
Fogelsville Elementary School students enjoy their new salad bar donated by Dole Food Company and Giant Food Stores. (Photo: Business Wire)
The event underscored the practical actions schools can take to combat
the growing obesity epidemic through healthy lunch options. As schools
work diligently to comply with the USDA new nutrition standards for
school lunches, salad bars serve as a reasonably priced, attractive
option to increase our students’ consumption of fruits and vegetables.
“Salad bar donations are a natural extension of Dole’s ongoing
commitment to childhood nutrition,” said Marty Ordman, Dole’s Vice
President of Marketing and Corporate Communications. “Giant Food Stores
have been a part of Pennsylvania communities for over 90 years. Their
dedication to making sure that young people are living healthier lives
matches our passion at Dole. We are proud to partner with them for this
project.”
“GIANT has a long-standing commitment to eradicate hunger and improve
the quality of life for children in addition to working with hundreds of
local organizations annually,” said Jeff Beaulieu, Vice President, Sales
and Merchandising, Giant Food Stores. “When children have the chance to
sample fresh fruits and vegetables at school, they’re more likely to ask
for them at home. This is a wonderful example of how schools and
businesses can work together to create healthier communities.”
In November 2010, Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, a grassroots public
health initiative working in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s
Let’s Move! Initiative was created. The partners of the initiative,
including Dole, share a vision to significantly increase the number of
salad bars in schools across the country until every child has the
choice of healthy fruits and vegetables every day at school. This
initiative goes hand in hand with the new standards from USDA, which
aims to offer more nutritious choices for kids, including whole grains,
fruits and vegetables, and school flavored milk that is lower in sugar
and calories than ever before.
About Parkland School District
The Parkland School District is located in a suburban-rural setting
approximately 60 miles north of Philadelphia and 70 miles west of New
York City in the semi-metropolitan region known as the Lehigh Valley.
The 2012-13 student enrollment is approximately 9,300 students and the
district operates with the mission of Educating for Success,
Inspiring Excellence for all students. The 72 square miles of the
Parkland School District encompass three townships – North Whitehall,
South Whitehall and Upper Macungie – along with a small portion of the
city of Allentown. The total population is approximately 50,000. The
district’s wide socio-economic range results from its bordering the city
of Allentown on the southeast and extending to farmlands at the western
and northern extremities. The district is also home to many businesses
with 40% of the tax base consisting of commercial/industrial tenants.
About Dole Food Company
Dole Food Company, with 2012 revenues of $4.2 billion, is one of the
world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and
fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it
sells, as well as in nutrition education and research. For more
information, please visit www.dole.com.
About GIANT/MARTIN’S
Celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2013, GIANT/MARTIN’S,
headquartered in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, operates 200 grocery stores in
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, under the names of
GIANT Food Stores and MARTIN’S Food Markets. GIANT/MARTIN’S employs more
than 31,000 associates. Founded in 1923, GIANT and MARTIN’S have a
long-standing commitment to eradicate hunger and improve the quality of
life for children in addition to working with hundreds of local
organizations annually. The company was recognized for its leadership in
the fight against hunger with the Golden Grocer Award by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. In addition, GIANT/MARTIN’S is one of the top
ten fund-raisers in the country for local Children’s Miracle Network
hospitals. GIANT and MARTIN’S are Ahold companies. For more information
visit www.GiantFoodStores.com
and www.MartinsFoods.com. Find
us on Facebook at facebook.com/giantfoodstores
and facebook.com/martinsfoods.
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