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The Waterford School District is the recipient of a Love Your Veggies™ school grant, sponsored by the makers of Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings in partnership with School Nutrition Foundation (SNF) and supported by Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH). The $15,000 nutrition grant will allow Waterford Village Elementary School access to, and consumption of, fresh vegetables.

The Waterford School District will use the grant funds to launch the Veggie Village at Waterford Village Elementary School. Students will have access to free vegetables weekly and will create a school vegetable garden, which will be cultivated and served at a community dinner. Classroom teams will compete in the Veggie Challenge, in which students will be challenged to eat at least five servings of vegetables per day. In addition, the USDA’s Team Nutrition curriculum will be introduced.

Now in its third consecutive year, the Hidden Valley® Love Your Veggies™ school grant program awarded ten $15,000 grants to schools from different states across the country in 2009. The Waterford School District was the only school in Michigan to receive the funding. The winning grant proposals were chosen based on need, innovation, greatest likelihood of sustainable impact on the students they are serving, and potential for community involvement. Hidden Valley® created the Love Your Veggies™ program after a study found that children consumed more vegetables when paired with a moderate amount of ranch dressing (2006 study of two Northern California elementary schools conducted by the University of California Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and the Butte County Cooperative Extension).