I attended the school board meeting yesterday
affirming their progress on this issue. I shared
concerns about putting the nutritional needs of our
diverse student population ahead of the promotional
concerns of beverage and snack marketers. I question
whether highly sugared artificially flavored milks
full of preservatives for shelf stability are truly a
healthy alternative to soda pops.
These beverages are being pushed by soda pop companies
as a "healthy alternative" to soda pop. When 95% of
the asian population, more than 70% of the african
american and native american populations, 53% of the
mexican american population, and 15% of the white
population are lactose intolerant, it seems we could
find other healthier options such as calcium fortified
fruit and vegetable juices to approach meeting
concerns about calcium deficiency and bone density
among our youth. Flavored milks will not address the
concerns about the epidemic of obesity among young
people due to their high caloric content and added fat
content. Milk is a relatively common food allergen
among people from cultural backgrounds that
traditionally don't consume milk.
Advocates for immigrants are already concerned about
the degree to which milk product consumption is
encouraged among populations for which it is
unhealthful due to our countries racially biased and
ag industry influenced federal nutritional guidelines.
In an area where those federal guidelines are not
mandatory to implement, such as the vending machines,
the local school district should take into account the
needs of the diverse population it serves.
I also question the wisdom of having an exclusive
vending contract for the entire school district.
Though fiscally to the advantage of the district, I am
concerned that nutritional needs of the students are
not the priority when such needs cannot be specific to
needs of kids attending a particular school. I think
nutritional needs should trump making money off the
student population via vending.
One other issue raised was whether the machines should
be accessible throughout the school day or only after
school. Most nutritionists support the notion that it
is healthier for people to eat small amounts when they
are hungry throughout the day. This tends to lead to
healthier eating habits. It's kind of like the saying
that you shouldn't go grocery shopping when you're
hungry. You make better choices when you are not
excessively hungry. For this reason I would support
the machines being accesible throughout the day as
long as the choices offered are healthy ones.
Kudos to the school board for beginning to move in the
direction of putting kids nutritional needs ahead of
corporate marketing concerns and the accompanying
payoff to the district for access to a captive market.
David Strand
Loring Park
Treasurer, Freeman Wicklund for School Board Campaign.
www.freemanwicklund.com
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