Salad Bar Program
Lady Evelyn School’s weekly Salad Bar Program was started by the Health and Environment Committee in 2007 as part of the Canadian Organic Growers’ (COG) www.cog.ca Growing Up Organic Project www.cog.ca/GUO-Ottawa. COG is a national charitable organization that has been promoting organic growing for over 30 years. A primary focus of Growing Up Organic is to ensure that the most vulnerable members of our society, young children, have access to organic food.
It is our hope that students who enrol in the Salad Bar program will become and form part of a culture, now and in the future, that regards healthy eating as part of their daily routine and will allow fruits and vegetables to take the place of processed foods in their diets.
Thanks to the School Council for allowing us to conduct this important program for our school. Thanks to teachers, staff and parent volunteers for helping to run the program. For more information, please contact the Health and Environment committee at health@ladyevelyn.ca.
Parent volunteers are an essential part of the Salad Bar program and our Lady Evelyn community. Without volunteers, this program cannot take place. Two hours of your time will make a real difference. Your help is greatly appreciated! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the Salad Bar coordinator, Michele McIntosh, at micmac27@gmail.com.
This year, parents can sign their child up for the full school year, starting in September. Salad Bar will take place every Wednesday from September 23rd to June 23 (a total of 36 weeks), at a cost of $45 ($1.25 per week).
Each Wednesday, during the first nutritional break, volunteers will bring the Salad Bar cart to the atrium on the third and second floors. Participating students will be offered a choice of 4 or 5 fruits/vegetables. They should still bring a lunch from home, as well as a reusable self-serve container and a dip of choice. Read the reverse of this page for information on quality control and Salad Bar manners; check out the Salad Bar page on the Lady Evelyn web site: www.ladyevelyn.ca/node/77 for a weekly menu and other information.
Salad Bar Quality Control
All foods are prepared at the school in the gym kitchen. Countertops and sinks are wiped and washed beforehand. Produce is washed, then peeled and chopped, and stored in glass trays or stainless steel bowls – we try to keep the use of plastic wrap to a minimum.
Students are required to wash their hands before serving themselves – hand sanitizer is provided. Food trays remain wrapped except for a small portion to allow access.
All utensils, trays and supplies are stored in a designated bin on the Salad Bar cart, in the gym kitchen. They are washed and dried separately before storage to avoid contact with allergens.
Salad Bar Manners
- Wash your hands before lining up for the salad bar - very important.
- Pick up food with the tongs provided and return the tongs to the same dish when you are done picking up that food.
- Take only what you think you can eat because you are not allowed to return it and if you don’t eat it you can take it home.
- Eat only after you have finished serving yourself and you have returned to your table and you are sitting down.
- If you need to sneeze or cough, turn away from the Salad Bar cart.
- Remember that everyone has to share so try and take a little of everything instead of a lot of just one food.
Volunteers - Food Preparation Instructions
Volunteers meet in the gym kitchen Tuesday afternoon/evening. Produce is stored in the gym kitchen refrigerator, and the food prep equipment is stored in a pink bin in the cupboard to the right of the fridge, and on the Salad Bar cart under the gym kitchen counter.
Wash all vegetables and fruit, including melons. Vegetables are chopped or sliced. Apples or pears are usually halved or quartered. Load prepared fruit and vegetables into glass trays or stainless steel bowls. Cover with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator middle and lower shelves. Wipe down work surfaces, dry utensils, and store in the equipment bin.
Volunteers - Salad Bar Cart Serving Instructions
Volunteers go to the gym kitchen at 9:45 am. Pull the Salad Bar cart out from under the counter; insert the wheels (stored on the bottom shelf of the cart). Load trays/bowls of fruits and vegetables from the fridge onto the Salad Bar cart; insert tongs into food trays and bowls (lift a corner flap of the plastic wrap and keep the rest covered).
Prepare and drop off two plates of fruits and vegetables to Donna Ship-Bondy's class on the first floor, on the way to the third floor atrium. Wheel the Salad Bar cart up to the third floor atrium shortly before 10:00 am. Request that students wash their hands before lining up. At 10:20, wheel the cart down to the second floor atrium. Request that students wash their hands before lining up. At 10:45 am, wheel the cart back to the gym kitchen; rinse and dry containers and utensils; store in the pink bin in the cupboard to the right of the fridge/on the cart; remove the cart wheels and store on the bottom shelf; and return the cart to under the counter.
