Soy milk and granola bars in school vending machines. That’s the ticket:
Schools are trying to teach students a lesson in healthy eating, but the kids literally aren’t buying it.Since Snicker bars and soda were replaced with granola and soy milk, snack sales have slumped by more than 40 percent at schools in a limited pilot program in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
That’s worrying some officials who fear they may have to cut sports and after-school clubs traditionally funded by revenue from campus snack and soda sales. But others say that the program, in place since March, needs more time and that sales of healthy snacks are picking up.
I’m all for healthy snacks (but I draw the line at soy milk — I ain’t drinking that nasty s*** even if I was offered money to do so), but forcing it on kids instead of allowing them to make their own snack choices is wrong. Dealing with the obesity factor should involve educational focus on nutrition, diet, exercise, and personal responsibility. Stocking vending machines with products that students don’t like does nothing to make matters better, especially when kids can bring sodas and snacks from home or get them on the way to school from the nearest convenience store.
Meanwhile, the obesity problem continues to skyrocket due to a loss of snack machine profits going to fund athletic and physical education programs.
But they’re healthy snacks! It’s For The Children. Honest!
(link via Joanne Jacobs, by way of Amritas)
3 Responses to “When Health Food Backfires”
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*whisper* Shhh! Don’t give the food police any ideas.
But seriously, teens are going to find ways around the regulations. When I was in high school, my peers and I did the same thing (given that my alma mater was a completely open campus at the time) for lunch period, and there was three supermarkets and a Stop ‘N Go in proximity.
Today, most schools are closed campuses with tighter bans on food and drink in classrooms. But even with that, the LAUSD’s pilot program is poorly thought out and based on the utopian whimsy of a far-left school board member.
If healthy snacks are going to be offered, there should be a variety to choose from along with the old standbys — not just granola bars and soy milk alone.
“Stocking vending machines with products that students don’t like does nothing to make matters better, especially when kids can bring sodas and snacks from home or get them on the way to school from the nearest convenience store.”
Since they obviously don’t know or won’t do what’s good for themselves, the only solution is to control what they can have in their homes and what can be sold to them in stores.
You got a buck? I want some Planters Cajun-Style Twigs with Pebbles.
Do they really think half-baked laws like this are actually going to work? It’s not like we have a 7-Eleven on every corner or anything, especially near schools (hope I’m not the only one that notices that).