Junk Food In Schools December 2, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in Economics, Health, Politics.trackback
If you have been in a school cafeteria lately you know the kind of junk food that is available to students. This certainly varies by state and district, but often includes: potato chips, ice cream, soda, cookies, etc. Not to mention the items the schools pass of as part of the daily meal: breaded chicken nuggets, french toast sticks, BBQ rib patties, cheese pizza; it’s really very scary.
The NY Times reported on an effort to limit the junk food options available to kids by way of the Farm Bill. The bill would be very much a compromise, still allowing chocolate milk, diet soda, sports drinks, and smaller portions of snacks. It’s certainly not a perfect fix, but what can you expect with the enormous power of the food lobby.
The idea that any kind of junk food is available in schools is really amazing. I am a teacher myself and we believe that if a school is nothing else, it must be safe. We go to great lengths to ensure the physical and emotional security of our students in all school settings. We know that for many students, school is the only place where they are truly safe. That we are allowing them to poison their bodies flies directly in the face of our most important objective.
Money is of course the issue, even at the school level. I have seen a lot of junk food leave schools in recent years and those decisions were made with the knowledge that the school would lose a significant amount of money from those sales. We have all seen school projects paid for my Coke and Pepsi, and there are fast food restaurants inside high schools. This may be a difficult issue, but there really is only one right answer. We need to protect the kids.
I’m sure McDonald’s reach extends to schools as well. The choices of food offered at junior high and high school cafeterias in Utica–not to mention the taste–is so similar to the toxic waste passed off as food at McDonald’s that it’s scary. While healthy alternatives exist in the daily lunch menu (apples, salads and fat free milk are available alongside salty fries, chocolate milk and cheese burgers) it is foolish for anyone to think that the students will choose the healthy foods when they can easily have the junk. I imagine cash-strapped school districts like Utica’s where parent and community involvement is extremely limited is where corporations have the most free reign to force their products on demographic populations which hold the most promise of being their biggest future consumers.