D.C. Schools to Offer Better Vending Choices

[Guest guest]

Greetings Family,

 

The article below is about vending machines in only 7 schools.

Vending food is optional. The artificial colors, flavors (flavor enhancers that

are 100x worse than MSG!), milk, cheese pizza, canned veggies, cheese &

meat filled tacos, refined sugars and flours, etc. in the ‘meals’ are

still unacceptable. These foods are helping kids become more familiar with the principals

office, detention hall and pharmacist (Ritalin, Prozac, etc).

 

The questions remain… what are we going to do

proactively to make sure the breakfasts, lunches

and snacks are not poisoning our children? What are you willing to

do? Who are you going to call at your child’s school or your local school

board today to make it happen?

 

When I was growing up, my mother used to tell me, “If we

don’t advocate for our children, who will?” Moms, dads, grandmothers,

aunts, uncles… let’s make it happen. If you need help with your child’s

school (no matter what state you are in) please e-mail me back directly.

I am with you.

 

~Sunyatta Amen

sunyatta

www.vegsoul.com

 

 

D.C. Schools to Offer Better Vending Choices

 

7 Sites Will Stock Healthier

Snacks

By Sewell Chan

Washington

Post Staff Writer

Thursday, July 22, 2004; Page B01

Healthier snacks and fruit juices would replace

junk food and sodas in vending machines at seven public schools in October, and

throughout the District school system by February, under a resolution that the

D.C. Board of Education unanimously approved last night.

The

resolution adds the District to a growing list of cities that have moved to

introduce healthier eating options at schools, prompted by concerns about an

increase in childhood obesity. In the past few years, school boards in Los Angeles, Philadelphia

and New York City

have taken steps to improve the nutritional content of items sold in vending

machines.

The

Montgomery County school board voted in the spring

to curtail the size of beverages and set limits on the saturated fat and sugar

content of snacks. Virginia's

legislature is considering a proposal to set nutritional standards for all food

served inside schools, including food from vending machines.

The

D.C. resolution states that " most vending machine snacks have little

nutritional value, and are in direct competition with a healthy school lunch

program, " and cites research showing that healthier eating can improve

students' concentration and behavior.

" If

we want our children to be mentally ready to learn, then we must provide them

with healthier choices to help them develop the physical and emotional muscle

they need to be successful, " said school board President Peggy Cooper

Cafritz in a statement. " A healthy diet is fundamental to that. "

 

The

resolution is to take effect in October at Ballou, Cardozo, Roosevelt and Wilson senior high schools; Browne and Jefferson junior

high schools; and Kramer

Middle School. The

resolution calls for the expansion of the effort to all public schools by

February " based on the success of the pilot program " but does not say

how success is to be assessed.

The

resolution restricts the sale of beverages at the seven schools to water, low-

and fat-free milk and drinks that contain at least 50 percent fruit juice. It

sets limits of 7 grams of fat and 15 grams of sugar for snacks sold in vending

machines, with exceptions for nut and seed mixes and dried fruits. It also

establishes maximum portion sizes for chips, cookies, beverages, yogurts,

pastries and frozen desserts, including ice cream. The resolution calls for

implementing a marketing campaign by January to teach students about the importance

of healthy eating.

Interim

Superintendent Robert C. Rice said he supported the measure. " The time is

right for us to begin this process of installing nutritious foods in school

vending machines, " Rice said through his chief of staff.

Nutritionists

and representatives of research and advocacy groups, who have pushed for the

change in the District over the past year, testified in support of the

resolution last night.

Kimberly

Perry of the Food Research and Action

Center, a policy group

based in the District, chaired a group of parents, educators and health

professionals that conducted focus groups at several of the seven schools in

the pilot program.

" The

call for healthier snacks and beverages was one we heard loud and clear, "

Perry said. " Students told us they wanted more choices and that they'd

like to participate in the decisions being made about beverages and snacks that

go into their school's vending machines. "

Perry

also argued that unhealthy snacks are self-defeating. " The availability of

junk food in schools undercuts participation in national school meal programs

and undermines health and nutrition education provided to students, " she

said.

Joy

M. Johanson, a researcher at the District-based Center for Science in the Public

Interest, said that a sharp rise in children's caloric intake since the late

1970s has contributed to rising rates of obesity, diabetes and elevated

cholesterol and blood pressure.

There

are many reasons why children buy food from machines at school, Johanson said,

citing long cafeteria lines, short lunch periods and extracurricular activities

during the lunch period that reduce the amount of time children spend eating.

" Schools

should practice what they teach, " Johanson said. " Selling

low-nutrition foods in schools contradicts nutrition education and sends

children the message that good nutrition is unimportant. "

However,

Reuben L. Gist, of the Capital Area Food Bank, questioned whether the

resolution would affect children's eating habits.

" They

will spend their limited disposable finances at the local mom-and-pop stores on

the junk food they once purchased from the vending machines, " he said.

Gist argued that the focus should be on enrolling all eligible children in

federally funded school food programs and on nutrition education.

The

Government Accountability Office, at the request of members of Congress, is

examining the prevalence and impact of vending machines in public schools

across the United States,

according to Barry D. Sackin of the American School Food Service Association,

which represents school nutritionists.

In

an interview, Sackin took care not to fault operators of vending machines.

" It's not vending machines that are the problem, but what's in vending

machines, " he said. Sackin added that several school districts have

successfully sold enough low-fat chips, pretzels, water and milk to make up for

the loss of revenue from less-healthy snacks: " You can make substitutions

in your vending program and still show a profit, a good profit, without the

negative nutrition impacts, " he said.

© 2004

The Washington Post Company