Support when and where it's needed
Apr 30, 2020
TOKYO, JAPAN – USA Rice is helping healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic in Japan stay fueled up with healthy salads prepared with U.S.-grown rice.
Crisp Salad Works, a local fast casual chain here that offers customizable meals using various ingredients including U.S. medium grain rice, started making salads to-go, free of charge, for healthcare workers back in March when COVID-19 began spreading rapidly throughout the city.
By mid-April, USA Rice had donated enough U.S. medium grain for nearly 7,000 salads, all delivered with a message expressing thanks to the healthcare workers tending to those afflicted with the coronavirus.
“People toiling away in hospitals need a hearty salad with grain to get energized for their difficult work environment,” said Jim Guinn, USA Rice director of Asia promotion programs. “To make it even easier for hospital employees to get these salads, Crisp Salad Works established “Crisp Connect,” a delivery service bringing free salads directly to hospitals in Tokyo and Kanagawa prefecture.”
Crisp Connect is using U.S.-grown medium grain for 20–30 percent of the to-go salads being delivered to 13 different hospitals.