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.”