Seattle Public School’s Board is considering allowing student groups to sell items not in compliance with the district’s nutrition policies. With childhood obesity impacting up to 30% of our youth, should schools re-start promoting unhealthy foods? At the same time, student stores are relying on sales of unhealthy foods to fund uniforms, bus transportation to games, and in some cases prom. How can WE keep schools healthy and support student stores to make the money they need?
Current UPDATE and how you can help.
Click here for Seattle Times article (December 11, 2011)
I think it’s a sad day when we cannot adequately fund our schools and kids are forced to selling junkets, Christmas gift wrap, and buying junk food. Perhaps having a broader choice of healthy foods in the machines may make a difference, although I don’t think this is the way to enrich our children’s lives with school activities. Those machines offer expensive food items that most kids cannot even afford to begin with and the concern with diabetess and obesity is based on tangible data. I do not support the planned actions of the school board.
Bad idea just so student clubs can have a funding source. What’s next – legalize gambling in schools as a potential revenue source?
There are hundreds of healthy options available including heart healthy whole food cookies like papa giki, fruit, veggie snacks, low fat dairy, protein drinks etc.
We need a dedicated whole food vending distribution system to bring healthy options to our schools and BTW, hospital vending machines. Junk food begets junk food, begets obesity and disease.
We set high standards for education and we must maintain high standards for nutrition.
papa
More junk food in schools is a really, really bad idea. There is no reason for schools to promote consumption of processed food. I wonder who proposed this idea for raising more money. Next someone will propose selling cigarettes. They would bring in more money.
The Rainier Beach girls soccer team forfeited all their away games because they did not have bus transportation. Many teams have eliminted the freshman and C teams because they cannot pay for coaches. School dances are extremely rare; some schools don’t have any. Student clubs are eliminated or their activities curtailed because of lack of funds. Drama programs produce fewer and fewer productions because of lack of funds.
Students that participate in clubs and sports are not only getting exercise, they aren’t sitting at home overeating every afternoon.
The sad truth is the ban did not lower the incidence of obesity in the schools. I believe we should allow the student organizations to sell candy, chips and soda in order to raise funds for school activities. Since the students just leave campus and go across the street to get the junk food, the ban did not accomplish its stated goal.
This is the third year my office is at a high school. The vending machine (1) follows the current guidlines…. seems to be getting filled all the time: someone is eating the choices offered…?
Also, there has not been a decrease in junk food wrappers and litter all over the school: so, students must be getting it somewhere. The open campus policy is more of an issue than what is in the vending machine. Students seem to have money to walk to the little store to buy high salt, high sugar, high fat foods.
Why has the district eliminated a healthy food advocate from Nutrition Services? Nutrition guidelines have been used as an excuse to provide very unappetizing food choices. When a good one is provided it has been on a very limited basis and usually sells out.
Just some thoughts…… more system work needs to be done!