To help you get started, we’ve created a Salad Bar Site Assessment Tool [Spanish Version] to help determine your district’s requirements for salad bar implementation. The assessment takes into account: site data, district wide impact areas, budget planning, and timeline action checklists.

Key data collection for each school includes

• School administration details
• Grades served
• Meal period details
• Average daily participation
• Other programs (e.g., breakfast in the classroom or fresh fruit and vegetable program)
• Site type (satellite, base, or production kitchen location)
• Staffing details
• Kitchen, service area, and cafeteria layout
• Delivery access
• Current smallwares inventory
• Current refrigeration and storage assets

The larger, system-wide operations considerations for planning include

• Who is the district’s primary produce supplier?
• How frequently is produce delivered?
• Is produce delivered directly to the site or to a central facility?
• How are sites ordering produce now?
• Is there significant aged inventory of canned or frozen vegetables that needs to be used?
• What is the level of expertise of the team with handling produce?
• Do you currently budget time for staff training and development?
• Does your department have a HACCP plan and are your standard operating procedures reviewed and updated annually?
• Is there a minimum of one person at each school site who has a current Serv Safe manager’s certification?
• Do you have an active relationship with your local health authority?
• Do you have support from administration, teachers, and staff for salad bar implementation?
• Are parents on your side? Can the food service department count on parents to support salad bars by having their children eat school lunch more frequently?

Evaluating Labor Requirements

It’s a common assumption that salad bars require more labor than other models, but only a critical analysis of the labor hours can either verify or disprove this theory. Once assessed, districts often find that there are adequate hours and people, and that satisfying salad bar labor requirements can be achieved by shifting the tasks and times of the existing team.

When assessing labor, consider the following to determine the best course of action:

• Skill sets of existing site teams
• Current site team efficiency
• Current site productivity (use Meals Per Labor Hour Worksheet [Spanish Version] to calculate)
• Team motivation—is the food service staff excited to implement?
• Existing menu assumptions (i.e., what components of the menu will the salad bar replace versus implementing salad bar as an addition to current options?)
• The salad bar menu and layout (i.e., variety and type)
• Average daily participation at site—sheer volume of production needs versus current (use Simple Meal Count Average Daily Participation Worksheet [Spanish Version] to calculate)
• Food preparation models (e.g., product prep at sites, direct delivery of cut product from production kitchens, direct delivery of either pre-cut or uncut product from vendors, etc.)

We also recommend that the salad bar replace hot-line service of fruit and vegetables. Likewise, the salad bar can replace the commonly-used cupping/packaging of fruits, salads, or other vegetables that are part of many menu plans prior to use of a salad bar. As we will discuss later in this guide, a key factor in cost containment is to shift the menu model to rely on the salad bar to fulfill fruit and vegetable requirements.

Many districts use a combination of purchasing, equipment donations, and equipment repurposing in order to f incorporate salad bars in every school. The primary areas of investment are:

• Electricity
• Point-of-Sale mitigation
• Refrigeration
• Salad bar units
• Sinks/plumbing
• Staff training

The Salad Bars to Schools grant program is available to all school districts. We strongly recommend that districts submit an application as soon as possible, as the waitlist can often reach 12 months. The process is easy and can fund one or all of the salad bars for your district. School districts have also acquired funding through state-based projects, local benefactors, Fuel Up to Play 60 grants, and many other funding sources.

Regulations

Federal

As many school food professionals know, regulations and compliance issues are abundant.

The most recent USDA Memo “Salad Bars in the National School Lunch Program” from March 2013 clarifies earlier salad bar guidance on key areas, including:

• portion size
• salad bar location
• POS placement
• nutrient analysis
• food safety with regard to serving elementary students

They also acknowledge that state agencies may authorize alternatives to the federal guidance, particularly with regard to placement of the POS. Although this memo was published in 2013, it is still considered the most up-to-date USDA guide.

Local Jurisdictions

You’ll want to engage your local health authority when considering implementing salad bars. Most school districts have very active relationships with their local authorities. By coordinating and communicating, you can fine-tune any issues or concerns prior to implementation.

Most commonly, you’ll need to provide a complete salad bar operational plan based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point principles (HACCP). In some cases, only a kitchen equipment plan update will be required.

Salad bars require the handling of fresh foods, many of which are considered PHFs (potentially hazardous foods); examples include tomatoes, melon, and lettuce, as well as protein sources such as chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, and hummus. With proper planning and partnership with local health authorities, any school can safely operate a self-service salad bar.