The days when children consume two orders of French fries in the school cafeteria and call it lunch may be numbered. A bipartisan group in Congress plans to introduce legislation today that would prohibit the sale in school not only of French fries but also of other fatty or sugary foods, including soft drinks.
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Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who has been pushing such a bill since 1994, said: "Congress is finally catching up with what parents have believed for a long time. Members of Congress are hearing from their constituents and recognizing this has become a national problem. I think finally members of Congress are asking, 'Why do we have soft drink vending machines in our schools?'" (NY Times)
I'll tell you why: because schools have sold out to the soft drink industry. Give the schools a couple hundred thousand dollars and they'll let you fatten and poison their students.
And what does the soft drink industry have to say about this?
The American Beverage Association, a trade group, said the legislation was unnecessary because since last August members of the association have limited sales of full-calorie soft drinks to 50 percent of offerings in high schools.
Thanks ABA! I knew we should have trusted you from the beginning.
2 comments:
50 percent of the offerings? What does that mean? - that half of the selections in the vending machines go unchosen? That they run out of soda faster?
I'd be happy if my daughter would simply EAT her lunch at school. I used to make her lunch, but then I found out that she would only eat the "goodies" and toss the rest. Dollar for dollar, I simply can't compete with the school system if she's going to toss half of it away and come home hungry anyway. Without parental encouragement (read 'nagging'), most kids at her age will only eat what they want and not what they need.
What we really need is legislation to put 'moms' in the lunch court to tell kids to eat their carrot sticks.
What does that mean? - that half of the selections in the vending machines go unchosen? That they run out of soda faster?
Most likely! I also like the caveat "full-calorie soft drinks". I imagine they just added more diet sodas which, while having less calories, aren't any more healthy.
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