Junk Food Ban Costing L.A. Schools

[Tab]

LOS ANGELES - The school district's 5-month-old junk food ban is hitting campuses hard with some campuses losing $1,000 or more a week in funds once used for extracurricular activities.

The sales of soda, candy and other popular items at student stores and vending machines paid for field trips, marching bands and other programs.

Schools in the San Fernando Valley lost $301,820 in beverage revenue in the first three months of 2004 after Los Angeles Unified School District officials banned soda sales.
...
"We're losing a lot of money. The healthy food snacks just are not real appetizing to the kids," said Bob Weinberg, principal of the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies.

"(Students) want to know when we're bringing back hot Cheetos, and they want to know who's to blame," Van Nuys Middle School principal Tony Delgado said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=541&ncid=541&e=1&u=/ap/20041203/ap_on_he_me/fit_junk_food_ban

[takumi]

1. Isn't the Health of the Children more important?

I guess not!

[fishwax]

3. I agree!

Can't we please just support the education of America's children without mortgaging their future health in the process? (To say nothing about selling their education out to greedy transnational corporations, which is the other ugly side of the junk food coin.)

[Mari333]

2. shameful country

when monies that could be earmarked for education end up paying for an illegal war or going to the top 1% in tax breaks...
and the kids are in a lose-lose situation, as are the schools.

[Worst Username Ever]

4. Tell the kids their parents are to blame

for teaching them it is ok to eat all that crap and becomimg so unhealthy that a junk food ban is necessary in the first place.

[die_Heavies]

5. exactly!

if these kids aren't eating the junkfood at school, what is preventing them from doing it at home? or anywhere else for that matter? good eating habits start at home. sure they might be eating healthier now (or not eating at all) but look how it's starting to cost them their education.

[booksenkatz]

6. What's wrong with schools today?

In the 60s and 70s when I was in public school, we had field trips, marching bands, tons of extracurricular programs; we still had art and music; we still had recess (twice a day in the elementary years). I had several excellent teachers. We didn't have snacks at school; we were expected to buy candy or cokes with our own money at the 7-11 on the way home, LOL. Lunch was all we got, and while it was institutional food, at least it was hot and offered two vegetables. Our lunch lady would never have served us pizza or tacos. But today "it's all that the children will eat."

So what has changed? Why isn't there enough money anymore? Why do my brother and sister-in-law (both teachers) have to buy their students the basics FROM THEIR OWN POCKETS?

[4_Legs_Good]

21. PROPOSITION 13

Is what happened in California at least.

My wife is a public high school teacher and she buys supplies out of her own pocket all the time.

david

[Blue_Tires]

24. my ex-GF teaches in Long Beach now

and she constantly buys supplies out of her own pocket

[KurtNYC]

7. This guy is Principal of a magnet school?!

>>We're losing a lot of money. The healthy food snacks just are not real appetizing to the kids<<

Crappy grammer, bad attitude and from what I hear the teachers are happy with the change.

[sandnsea]

8. Booster Clubs

Time for the parents and the business communities to start supporting these programs, like they used to.

[KurtNYC]

9. The problem is the administrators; not the food

Popular items such as fruit juice slushes and frozen yogurt were taken off the shelves because of bureaucratic snafus.

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2565930,00.html

Somebody is probably getting paid off. My investigation would start with Bob Weinberg -- honorary spokesman for the junk food vendors.

[Mari333]

10. Schools across the nation wouldnt have to rely on junk food monies

if we didnt have an administration that used up all of our tax dollars on war and tax breaks for the wealthy...

www.costofwar.com

http://www.costofwar.com/index-public-education.html

[vpigrad]

11. In the world controlled by Bush

He even tells you what to eat! Apparently Bush and company don't think we're too stupid to decide what to eat so they're going to tell us what to eat. I don't think even in books like 1984 did the people not have the right to eat what they wanted. They control so much of what we're allowed to see and do. This is just going too far.

[tx_dem41]

12. I'm torn on this issue.

I think its sad that the schools had to deal with the Devil in the first place. Funding of schools should not include marketing from the soda and snack food industry.

At the same time, this is a case of asking the Government to be a parent for me. In some cases, I am for that. In some cases, I side on personal responsibility. I don't know where I fall on this one.

[noamnety]

15. The government isn't being a parent on this

If they were saying the kids aren't allowed to bring soda or chips to school, you could claim that.

Instead they are just not willing to supply junk food. There's a big difference there.

Profiting from giving our kids long term health problems is pathetic; it's what the red companies do.

[tx_dem41]

16. Okay....you're swaying me. n/t

[SmokingJacket]

22. Well... when you ask the state to teach your children,

you're asking them to act as a parent, so what's the difference?

My kids are asked to bring a snack once a month. Fine. But other parents send crap and my kid eats it. I WISH the teacher would act more like a parent and nix the junk food.

[fryguy]

13. its a crying shame

that something as insignificant as the health of kids is getting in the way of profits....here's an idea, why not give more money to the schools so that they don't have to rely on beverage sales and corporate branding?

[GRLMGC]

14. Come on now

Education isn't important. We have better things to spend money on, like unnecessary wars and tax breaks for corporations. Didn't you know that?

[fryguy]

18. pass the kool-aid...n/t

:bounce:

[Mari333]

17. Once the kids all get their mandatory mental health screenings

they can be put on pharmaceuticals that will help them forget they ever wanted junk food at all...

[Bridget Burke]

19. Why don't they set up cigarette machines?

They'll generate a bunch of money for the schools.

[4_Legs_Good]

20. Good!

Now increase our taxes to pay for the $1K lost a week.

Let's get our priorities straight here people! Education is expensive, and we should be paying for it directly, rather than subsidizing the crap food market to get parents to pay for junk food as well as education.

This is another symptom of the privatization disease. We need to fund the cure.

david

[bettyellen]

23. this is ridiculous- why can't our taxes pay for the damn schools already!

because the right wing defunding the schools and pushing for a switch over to vouchers to private schools - which they;ll eventually eliminate so they pay for no education! I have seen hints of this, and with no child left behind, the main consequence is to close "failing" schools and overcrowd the better ones, till they fail as well. There is no actual plan to improve schools, only to evaluate- judge them harshly!! the plan is to set them up like dominoes and watch them fall! They are defunding educators and then blaming them for the failure that occurs becasue of it. Don't forget:
THERE IS NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO AN EDUCATION IN THIS COUNTRY!!