Pop, Chips, and Public Schools

This article was written by Fred Curtis. Later this week we’ll get to know more about Fred & his background in the Owosso Public School system.

The Sacred Cow
By Frederick Curtis

This is not about milk but perhaps it should be. There is a sacred cow in our midst that dare not be touched by anyone. This sacred cow is one that provides monies to operate our schools. It can be worth up to $50,000 per high school in revenue for our cash strapped educational facilities. What is that sacred cow you ask? It is exclusive contracts between soft drink venders and school administrators. Coinstar, (http://www.findcoinstar.com) reports that teenagers have available an average of $264 per month to spend on whatever they wish. This spending power is irresistible to marketers willing to utilize this veritable goldmine. Consumption of soft drinks has exploded from an average of 100 12 ounce cans per person in 1947 to almost 600 in 1997 according to researcher Michael F. Jacobson, PhD who is with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Teenagers in 1996 were drinking twice as much soda as milk instead of the other way around in 1978 when milk consumption doubled that of soda by teens. Jacobson says soft drinks pose health risks because of what they contain (for example, sugar and various additives) and what they replace in the diet (beverages and foods that provide vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients). In twenty years from 1974-1994 obesity rates in teenage boys soared from 5% to 12% and in teenage girls from 7% to 11%. Among adults, between 1980 and 1994 the rate of obesity jumped by one third, from 25% to 35%. People who drink soft drinks instead of milk or other dairy products likely will have lower calcium intakes. Low calcium intake contributes to osteoporosis, a disease leading to fragile and broken bones. Regular consumption of soft drinks promotes tooth decay. Caffeine added to most cola drinks is addictive and only 5% of Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola sold is caffeine free. School vending machines also sell products like Surge, Josta, and Jolt with 30% to 60% more caffeine than Coke and Pepsi. According to the Center for Science in The Public Interest (CSPI) caffeine increases the excretion of calcium in urine. Caffeine causes nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, and rapid heartbeat.

Coca Cola spent $277 million on advertising in 1997 and represents 44% of the soft drink market in the U.S. The major companies target children, aggressively talking school administrators into signing lengthy exclusive contracts to place vending machines into schools and the contracts provide the machines to be available all of the school day long.

Dr. Joseph Mercola, author of “Total Health Program” is appalled at the junk food consumed in schools today. “For countless American children, breakfast or lunch drops out of a vending machine at school: a can of soda, perhaps washing down a chocolate bar or a bag of potato chips.”

Nearly a dozen states are considering legislation to turn off school vending machines during class time, strip them of sweets or impose new taxes on soft drinks to pay for breakfast programs.
Martha Escutia, a state senator who sponsored a California Law banning the sale of soda in schools says “We have a crisis on our hands!” “Fifty percent of children are overweight in some districts and it can’t help when a child is eating chips and soda at 8 in the morning!”

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is urging the United States Senate to stand up to the Junk-Food Lobby. Some politicians give lip service to the issue of childhood obesity yet vote to keep junk food in schools. Four Democrats joined eight Republicans in the Senate Agriculture Committee in defeating a proposal by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) which merely would have let the federal government develop model nutrition guidelines for foods sold in vending machines and elsewhere on school grounds.
The CSPI reported the senators who voted against Harkin’s proposal claimed it was a matter of “local control”.

Junk-food lobbyists like the Grocery Manufacturers of America and the National Soft Drink Association wield tremendous influence in Congress and few legislators are willing to defy them.

“Saying ‘local control’ essentially means ‘do nothing’ since soda companies have had great success taking advantage of cash strapped school systems.

This is really about parental control and parents can’t have parental control over their kid’s health if junk-food marketers have the key to the school-house door” So says CSPI’s Nutrition Policy Director.

TAKE JUNK FOOD OUT OF OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Commercial Alert, founded by Ralph Nader, is a national network of people who oppose the excesses of commercialism, advertising and marketing. It is coordinating a nationwide grassroots campaign to kick junk food peddlers and advertisers out of our public schools. Commercial Alert has these tips on how you can help:

• Tell your congressman the public schools are aggressively promoting junk food and bad nutrition to impressionable children.
• Tell congress to stop the public schools from marketing junk food and ensure schools carry out the healthful intent of the National School Lunch act.
• Tell your congressman to require the public schools, in exchange for receiving federal funds and other educational programs, not to advertise, sell or promote junk food to schoolchildren.
• Find out if your local public schools sell junk food to schoolchildren
• If your public schools sell or advertise junk food, ask your local school board members and school administrators to get rid if the junk food and junk food ads.

A new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) says “In-school marketing has become a growing industry. Some marketing professionals are increasingly targeting children in schools, and companies are becoming known for their success in negotiating contracts between school districts and beverage companies, and both educators and corporate managers are attending conferences to learn how to increase revenue from in-school marketing for their schools and companies.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

New Mexico is legislating to restrict the sale of “competitive“ foods in schools. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature agree on getting rid of junk food in the schools. Schwarzenegger says “If you want to get rid of junk food, just pass a law that says you are not going to have any junk food in schools…because it is destroying our kids”. Such a law should tell schools “You are going to have to sell vegetables and fresh milk and water, no more Coca Cola.”

Los Angeles banned the sale of soda in all LA schools in 2004. Texas banned sale of soda, candy, foods of minimal nutritional value from hallways, lunchrooms, and common areas during lunchtime. Oakland CA banned sale of soda and candy from Oakland public schools. Nashville TN banned Channel 1 (a TV program in schools that advertises soda). San Francisco CA banned sale of soda and candy in cafeterias in 2003 and Seattle WA banned Channel one from Seattle schools in 2004.

In a New York Times article on September 9, 2001 it was reported “The United States Department of Agriculture tried to ban soda and candy sales in schools 20 years ago but was thwarted by a federal appeals court after the National Soft Drink Association challenged the prohibition. Now, federal regulations simply require schools to turn off soda and candy machines in cafeterias during meal times. Those that sit outside in hallways can stay on all day.”

Governor Rod Blagojevich and House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego Illinois proposed a bill in Dec. 2004 to remove candy and soda from school vending machines. In 2004 The American Academy of Pediatrics supported a ban on selling soda to children, saying the drinks contribute to obesity and other health problems. Philadelphia banned soda sales in 2003.

WHAT IS MICHIGAN DOING?

Senate Bill No. 91 was introduced January 2005 by Senators Bernero, Goschka, Cherry, Schauer, Olshove, Hammerstrom, Scott, Clarke-Coleman, George, Clarke, Barcia, Leland, Emerson, Prusi and Brater and referred to the Committee on Education. The bill would restrict the sale and distribution of foods and beverages that do not meet the guidelines for nutritional foods as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bill has gone to a second reading and referred back to committee.

If anyone has concerns that our schools are peddling junk foods of questionable nutritional value, contact your State Senator and learn more about this important legislation. School Administrators en masse refuse to stop these sales because of the vast potential for raising money for their after school programs.