Say hello to Sara Salo, MPH, a cyclist and health advocate based out of Bend, Oregon. She will soon embark upon a 6,000-mile pedal-powered, Perfect Foods Bar fuled adventure to raise awareness about the importance of providing students with wholesome school meals. Sara’s outdoor-oriented upbringing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan initially led her to pursue competitive cross-country skiing as a career, first as an athlete and later as an elite-level junior coach. This work with young athletes opened her eyes to the need to educate school-aged kids about healthy eating and inspired her to enroll in graduate school in order to learn about Health Promotion. Sara earned her Master’s degree in Public Health from Oregon State University in 2011. The highlight of her studies was her work on school food reform with the Orfalea Foundations s’Cool Food Initiative in Santa Barbara, California.

Sara created The School Food Tour as a way to combine her interest in supporting the healthy development of kids with her passion for riding bikes. The Tour, a program of her own creation, is designed to engage both youth and communities in conversations about healthy living through classroom sessions, group bike rides and farm visits. She hopes to energize participants young and old to become active advocates for their personal, school and community wellbeing.  

Sara is excited to partner with Perfect Foods Bars as a part of this ambitious undertaking. “I was worried that healthy food might not be available to me as I pedal through remote areas of our country. The Tour is going to demand an extraordinary amount of physical and mental exertion and so I’ve been searching for a product that would meet my caloric, nutrient and flavor requirements. I love everything about Perfect Foods Bars and carrying these bars will ensure that I have the energy and nutrients necessary to keep riding.”

The School Food Tour begins this month in Bend, Oregon and will conclude in Houghton, Michigan June of 2012. Sara will visit over 30 communities across the country and cover 15 states on her bicycling journey. To learn more about this initiative and follow Sara on her journey, please visit the School Food Tour website, http://schoolfoodtour.org.