According to this news article I found on Pittsburgh Post Gazette, some folks are concerned about the type of food that are seen in vending machines. Without direct quotes, it is believed by journalists that President Obama has a "school lunch policy" somewhere on his to-do list. Obtaining local food was one of the key points.
Personally, I feel I have seen a slight change in my own high school experience. By my senior year, all the vending machines that held every carbonated beverage on campus were banned and removed. We were left with water, minute maid orange juice, water, and water...did I mention water?
Snack machines on the other hand, where ever those were located (the 1 we probably had), were left untouched. I know in my high school, the candy shop, which helped fundraise for the criminal justice club, was open in between classes and during lunch, were much more popular anyway. What vending machine offers biweekly bake sales?!? I bet the club felt morally justified too, making all the $$$ they did.
The point I'm trying to drive home, is that it might be a good policy to take away those vending machines, and save students from spending their loose change, but it won't be effective until each school administrator enforces a healthy eating habit act, which prohibits the sales of candy on a regular basis and stops providing the a la carte junk food line that serves a heap of french fries with a great deal of buffalo wings everyday of the week.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09039/947197-34.stm
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2 comments:
I think removing all the vending machines that hold every carbonated beverage is a great start because I don't think high school students really look at the labels when they go to buy a drink. My high school did the same, it removed all the vending machines that sold soft drinks, but on the other hand we also had a small candy shop which was really busy during the lunch period and ran out of everything by the end of the day. So I guess raising money for school activities is more important than the students health.
My school had both vending machines and drink machines all four years. However, they were always turned off at lunch time. We were also not allowed to sell food during the lunch period. I think that was more about competition with the cafeteria than actual health. Not to mention that there was a club selling doughnuts or Chik-Fil-A biscuits in the morning quite often...
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