Greetings food handlers, its been a while. I have been busy with my head in books at school, and interning at the local United Way. And of course, as it turns out, what I have been working on for both of these has been food related ;D What I want to talk about here though, is what I have been working on for the United Way, and what I've learned so far.
My task has been to research healthy vending machine policies in preparation for a presentation to high school students next week. These students are organizing to propose and adopt a city policy for healthy vending machines, and it is my task to help them get started by looking into what has worked for other communities. I have been sifting through state, county, city, and school district policies which now require vending machines in some places (like school campuses and libraries) to offer healthy alternatives to junk foods and soda. This can include dried fruits, yogurt , carrot or celery sticks, nut or trail mixes, and fruit or vegetable juices. These students, along with many other communities across America, are concerned with the pervasiveness of soda and junk food, while staples like fruits and vegetables are either expensive or absent altogether.
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| John Trever, The Alburquerque Journal |
When people talk about the health problems our nation suffers like cancer, heart disease, types I and II diabetes, and increasingly childhood obesity, I look to things like junk food vending machines and see at least one of the sources of this. I like chips and cookies too on occasion; but I feel that everyone, and especially children, deserve the right to healthy nutritious food at an equal or lesser cost than processed, high calorie/low nutrient, GMO foods. This is no quick and easy task, but as I've learned, it has been done in small pilot projects and successfully implemented in many places (I provide some helpful links below). While some of the policy outlines I've read through talk about the challenges they faced, they also give lots of tips, and I will say I am quite optimistic in this case for these students.
I think its awesome that this group of kids in high school are trying to direct the future of nutrition, and even extra revenue, on their campus. Considering that vending machines often provide supplementary revenue for schools when the state or district budget falls short, it seems questionable to stock these machines with snacks known to lack any sort of nutrition, thereby undermining the health of the students the school is meant to serve. I don't mean to demonize schools who have vending machines because it is not the physical machines themselves that are the issue. I do, however, think it is beyond hypocritical to preach values of nutrition, requiring kids to take health classes while simultaneously profiting from selling them empty calorie junk food and soda. This just makes no sense. Wouldn't the message mean a little more if it were actually supported in practice? Why on earth would kids listen to adults when there is no clear connection between what they are taught in the classroom and the reality outside?
I say good for these students for standing up to adults and demanding healthy alternatives; good for them for reaching out and working with organizations like United Way to brainstorm and gather resources. I'll admit, I'm a little intimidated to talk to them next week. But I figure, I've got a lot of common ground with a group of kids who are also health nuts on their way to becoming food activists, and hopefully the community organizers of tomorrow. I just wish I had the impressive head start they are all getting!
-H. BOMB
Here are some links to what I've been reading up on, if you are also interested in an alternative. The BANPAC site is an especially helpful starting point:
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