Is a law really necessary here?

[Grizzly]

"First of all, we in California this year are introducing legislation that would ban all the sale of junk food in the schools," Schwarzenegger said during a question-and-answer session with fans on the final day of the Arnold Classic, the annual bodybuilding contest that bears his name. He said junk food would be pulled from school vending machines in favor of healthier foods, including fruits and vegetables.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/03/07/schwarzenegger.junkfood.ap/index.html

I'm sure we can all agree that it is a good premise. Obesity is skyrocketing and the effects are going to be terrible. Yada yada ya. We want out kids to be healthier, so it seems like a perfectly good idea. All except I don't see where you or I get to limit the choices of SOMEONE ELSE'S children, but that's another discussion.

My question here is whether or not a bill and subsequent law is what is called for? Why not leave it up to the schools to determine what goes in their vending machines? More importantly, I can see where this proposed law is remotely acceptable for public schools. Read: schools who are owned and operated by the government. Who the fuck does Arnold think he is to legislate the actions of a private school? Read: school run completely by itself through tuition and alumni donations, ie not dependant on the gov't.

Can he really dictate what St. Mary of the Hypocritical Lifestyle is going to feed their students? But, really, is a law necessary at all; public or private?

 

[Grizzly]

I guess everyone is in agreement that the best way to keep children from getting fat is to make it illegal for them to eat certain products. While we're at it, let's criminalize being fat. Hell, I make a motion to criminalize everything you do that I don't like. I think that's a damned good law.

 

[monsoon]

vending machines make a ton of money in schools as does advertising of junk foods and drinks. I feel that parents should teach their children proper dietary habits, but unfortuneately many have shitty habits themselves. As far as laws, how about making PE mandatory?

 

[Grizzly]

It is here. In fact, the PE program featured in "Super Size Me" is in a town that is just a hop skip and a jump away from me.

 

[monsoon]

I had pe for 12 yrs when I was in school, but would you believe it is an elective in some schools, some have none at all , some require only one or two years in HS.

 

[cynic]

Schools are just fucked up. No two ways about it. My son (first grade) rotates PE, Music, and Art. They do get recess everyday, and a "Fun Run" once a week where they run as far as they can in 10 or 15 min. Little bastard runs 9 laps which is supposedly a mile and a half. Sorry, just proud I don't have one of the lazy kids. Anyway I think his school is pretty good. But the local district is trying to pass a $100million bond to pay for new school construction. Of that $100m, $92m is for a new high school. ????????
A 92 MILLION DOLLAR high school? We already have a 120million dollar football stadium. Ridiculous. And I don't live in Grizz's neighborhood. You can buy a great house around here for 120k. The gov't thinks money grows on trees. OH wait. It practically does for them. It comes right out of my ass. Every time Uncle Sam pulls his dick out, wads of bills come out right behind it.

 

[Kayz]

My high school actually had to deal with this exact issue. Some of the parents didn't think their 18 year old kids should be eating bad junk food...so they petitioned the school to get rid of the Pepsi and candy machines. The school said "well wait a minute, these machines along with the money paid to us by Pepsi and all the other companies to sell their items is a significant amount of money. If you want us to get rid of the machines, will you [the parents] provide us with the missing funds provided by the vendors?" Of course the answer was no. As usual, those bitching about the problem do not offer a viable, alternative solution.

So finally, the school compromised with parents and the vendors. What they did was they locked the machines before school started and you could only buy from them during the lunch periods. After lunch, the machines were locked up. This made the teachers happy because they didn't have people eating in their classes and leaving their trash on the floor....plus there were a reduced number of tardiness' as we could no longer say "..uhhh, I was at the snack machine..sorry".

 

[bigpmp]

Schools

When a school lunch consists of tater tots, mac and cheese, pork and beans and 2% milk I have a hard time believing it is the snack machines making kids fat. I saw this exact menu this past Monday. I was even more shocked than usual when I saw what they were making these kids eat. In Texas they had to remove all drinks machines that dispensed drink over 12 ounces. The 20 oz. machines were $1 the 12 once can machines are .50 . Do the math. The kids are now able to get 24 oz for the 20 oz. price. Those damn congressmen are just so smart sometimes.