NEWS RELEASE
Healthy Choices, Healthy Future: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Invests $25,000 To Bring Healthier Options to School Cafeterias
Teddy Lemmer
| 3 min read
DETROIT, Oct. 8, 2026 – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (Blue Cross), in partnership with the Chef Ann Foundation, is investing $25,000 to install salad bars in five Michigan schools. This year’s investment builds on Blue Cross’ commitment to increase access to fresh, nutrient-rich foods, which has helped fund more than 120 salad bars in schools across Michigan, providing nearly 50,000 students with better access to fresh, nutritious choices in their school cafeterias. The five schools receiving salad bars are Manistee Early Childhood Center, Manistee Elementary School, Manistee Middle/High School, Mio-Ausable School in Oscoda and Superior Central School in Alger.
“At Blue Cross, we believe healthy habits start early and that every student should have access to nutritious choices that support their long-term well-being,” said Tiffany Albert, senior vice president of Community Relations and chief inclusion officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. “Good nutrition is foundational to lifelong health and can help reduce the risk of chronic disease over time. By investing in salad bars in local schools, we’re helping expand the fresh, nutritious options available to students and staff across Michigan and encouraging healthy choices each day that can support their well-being and power their health for years to come.”
The Salad Bars to Schools program, operated by the Chef Ann Foundation, grants schools salad bar equipment, marketing materials and training to successfully implement salad bars in their cafeterias. Since 2010, Salad Bars to Schools has donated 6,557 salad bars to grantees in all 50 states, allowing more than 3 million children access to fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins.
“Salad bars offer a straightforward, scalable approach for school districts transitioning from a heat-and-serve model to more scratch cooking. Swapping highly processed sides with a daily salad bar of fresh, whole foods elevates the nutritional quality of every tray,” said Mara Fleishman, CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation.
A representative from Manistee Area Public Schools shares what it meant for schools in her district to be selected. “We were thrilled to be notified that our school district was among those awarded this grant,” said Haleigh Savage, SNS, Nutrition Services Director, Manistee Area Public Schools. “The Chef Ann Foundation and Blue Cross share in our goal to replace ultra-processed foods with fresh, locally grown foods for producing healthy meals for our students and protect the planet by reducing packaging waste. This high-quality equipment will help simplify the delivery of fresh foods to students each day.”
Blue Cross’s investment in Salad Bars to Schools is just one component of its Power Your Health initiative. Blue Cross recognizes the important role nutrition plays in overall health and well-being and seeks to empower Michiganians to build healthy habits. To learn more about Power Your Health, visit bcbsm.mibluedaily.com/poweryourhealth.
About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit mutual insurance company, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BCBSM provides health benefits to more than 4.7 million members residing in Michigan in addition to employees of Michigan-headquartered companies residing outside the state. The company has been committed to delivering affordable health care products through a broad variety of plans for businesses, individuals and seniors for over 80 years. Beyond health care coverage, BCBSM supports impactful community initiatives and provides leadership in improving health care. For more information, visit bcbsm.com and MiBlueDaily.com.
About the Chef Ann Foundation
Chef Ann Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to ensure that school food professionals have the resources, funding, and support they need to provide fresh, delicious, scratch-cooked meals that support the health of children and our planet. To date, the organization has reached more than 19,000 schools and 5.9 million kids in all 50 states with healthy school food programming.
