Within our small alternative private school, we have two vending machines: drinks & snacks. Discussions arise periodically regarding the nutritional value of the items available for student purchase. At the end of last school year, we collaborated with the vendor and agreed that the drink machine would include: bottled water, Gatorade, Snapple, various juices, Sprite, and Diet Pepsi. The snack machine was to include gum, Life Savers, a few healthier lunch options (the travel tuna & chicken salad packs & beef jerky), baked chip varieties including Sun Chips, snack and breakfast bars, Smartfood popcorn, and Chex mix. By October, sales in the machines plummeted and the vendor worked privately with a counselor, who had received negative feedback from parents, regarding "nothing good" available in the machines. NOW, the machines are packed with Mountain Dew, Pepsi & Diet Pepsi, and juice drinks; chips, processed danish, candy bars, and Ramen Noodles.
Aren't we encouraging kids to lead unhealthy lifestyles by providing nothing but junk food? How do we get the administration to see that these high-sugar, high-calorie choices are not only unneccessary but they have a negative effect on classroom behavior as well? Why is the bottom dollar of a vending machine more important than the health and well-being of our students?
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In our small public school, we have only a water vending maching and a gatorade vending machine. We currently have no snack or food items available at any time. Our new principal, who is in disbelief that there are no vending machines, is currently working on a plan to install snack machines for student use next year. Our school operates under the federal wellness plan which prohibits the distribution of unhealthy snacks or pop during school hours. Do private schools not have to abide by the same law?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response! Our school is not bound by any requirements regarding distribution of food. If we had a cafeteria, we would have some guidelines to follow, but as far as I know they are not like those in the public sector. We actually have a "roach coach" which comes to us every day at lunch. If that doesn't scream, "contribute to bad decisions of today's youth," I don't know what does!
ReplyDeleteHello tarbare,
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly is a roach coach? One of my students recently submited an article to our newsletter about our vending machines. I work at a relatively small public high school too. We have snack machines with timers. The stated belief is, the kids leave such a mess during school that they can't have total access. Doesn't make much since to me because they can leave a bigger mess afterschool and leave. They students say they give all day access to the machines when the snacks become stale. I feel like my students, "Use the machines right or just don't use them at all!"
Latoya,
ReplyDeleteA "roach coach" is a catering truck, run by a woman who drives to a variety of job sites to sell cooked food from the giant heaters and coolers on her truck. The selection varies from day to day, usually including burritos, breakfast sandwiches, pizza bagels, ramen noodle cups, chips, sodas, & energy drinks. We are her only school; she does the bulk of her business at construction sites. Nutritional value for my students is pretty low on her list of concerns.
I agree that students should "use it or lose it." We are a small enough school so that we don't really have to worry about the mess, mostly because when students get caught leaving a mess or vandalizing the machines, they do lose the privilige for a period of time.