This week Chilton County schools are celebrating “Super Salad Bar Week” in an effort to encourage healthy eating habits.

With the school year coming to an end in the next month, Child Nutrition Director Rachel Rachels said she wanted this week to be a change of pace.

“This is the time of year when everybody is tired and ready for summer,” Rachels said. “We thought it was a fun way to mix up the menu for both the kids and workers.”

Cafeteria staffs from all Chilton County schools were given the flexibility to come up with ideas to add to the salad selection.

“Each day the salad bar is a little different with certain vegetables or fruit that the kids have never tried before,” Rachels said. “It’s more than just lettuce, tomato and cucumber.”

Susan Holcombe is the cafeteria manager at Clanton Intermediate School and shares Rachels’ outlook.

Clanton Intermediate came up with the idea of having a different country represented each day of the week.

Monday was Brazil with the featured dish being “Brazilian Summer Salad” that included a mixture of corn, diced tomatoes, red onions in mayonnaise and lime juice.

The rest of the countries represented this week will include the United States on Tuesday, Mexico on Wednesday and Italy on Thursday.

This is the first time for salad bars to be showcased for a designated week throughout the county.

“There has been a huge push in child nutrition over the last several years to reduce sodium levels,” Rachels said. “By adding these items it allows our sodium where it needs be.”

According to Rachels, establishing a healthy mindset for younger age groups will have lasting benefits in food selection as they grow older.

Rachels has been the Child Nutrition Director for Chilton County Schools for two years and shares the same goal with each member of the cafeteria staffs.

“We’re not just here to feed them but also to nurture them,” Rachels said. “We want the best for the kids, and we’re on the right road.”