Abbey-Landry School is an elementary school (K-8) located in Memramcook, New Brunswick with a student population of approximately 400. Memramcook is a village with a population of about 5000.
The school successfully implemented a salad bar with the support of several local organizations such as Semer dans la Vallée, Apprentis en Action and the réseau des cafétérias communautaires. These community partnerships led to a $10,000 farm to school grant in 2018 and a successful salad bar program.
Before we get into the Q&A, let’s learn a little more about the school (all the information is from a time pre-COVID):
At Abbey-Landry School, the salad bar is served about once a week. In the first year of operation, the school managed 15 services during the school year while in the second year of operation they had a goal of more than 20 services before the arrival of COVID-19.
The food served at the salad bar is mostly provided by the cafeteria service. Some of this food, such as meat, vegetables and apples, is sourced locally. The school’s garden and greenhouse also provide some of the food served at the salad bar in season. The salad bar service is run in partnership between the school and the cafeteria service. Food ordering and preparation is done by the cafeteria staff prior to service. They also clean up afterwards. Students serve themselves, and some older students are responsible for helping younger students with this.
