> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# School salads raise the bar
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/school-salads-raise-the-bar/
- Published: 2003-05-23T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:09:37.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*District serves a healthy lesson to other schools*

Teachers and principals throughout the state came to Santa Monica this week to find out what we put in our salads.

The recipe is simple. It’s fresh produce picked from the gardens at local schools and bought from area farmer’s markets.

Hungry students have taken to the salad bars with such an appetite that the district was asked to host a conference for other schools hoping to do the same.

“Santa Monica has always been a leader when it comes to school nutrition,” said Delaine Eastin, former school superintendent for California. “They’ve demonstrated that eating healthy can be delicious. They’re real pioneers for better nutrition.”

Students tend to the vegetable gardens, which are in every school in the district, as are salad bars. The salad bars also are completely self-supporting and aren’t threatened by pending budget cuts, officials said.

Tracie Thomas, director of food and nutrition services for the Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District, said the salad bars are much-needed lunchtime alternatives to fast food and soda, which is offered at the high schools.

> “We’re considered the pioneers. And we want every kid in every school to reap the same benefits as the kids in Santa Monica and Malibu.” — - TRACIE THOMAS director of food and nutrition services

“The young people today are suffering from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity,” she said. “We have an obligation to give kids healthy choices and teach them to eat well.

“We’re considered the pioneers,” Thomas added. “And we want every kid in every school to reap the same benefits as the kids in Santa Monica and Malibu.”

Ten school districts from throughout California sent about 80 representatives to the two-day event, which featured a “how-to” salad bar lunch Thursday.

Each of the 10 districts received a $700,000 “Linking Education, Agriculture and Food” grant from the state and will now work on installing farm-to-school programs of their own.

The salad bars in local schools aren’t just about fresh greens. They also offer proteins such as tuna, hard-boiled eggs, diced turkey and grated cheese. And at $2.50 a tray in local elementary schools and $3 in middle and high schools, the make-your-own lunches are a hard deal to beat, school officials say.

Most of the grant recipients said on Thursday they are still figuring out how best to use the money. But they said their objective is clear.

“Appreciation of what you eat,” said Robert Falero, a science teacher at Orcutt Junior High in Santa Barbara County, adding that an on-site garden could be used to teach lessons in math, science and botany as well as health. “The goal is to get them to own the garden, so they’ll appreciate it.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 23, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052303.pdf?ref=smdp.com)