Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Ontario's Useless School Food Policy Costs Schools and Students Alike


It's a rare thing to champion a policy so bad that everyone loses but yet that's what Ontario's School Food Policy seems to be doing.

Principals are complaining of lost revenues from their banks of junk filled vending machines, and the children? Well they're still being served garbage, except now they're being taught that garbage is healthy.

What do I mean?

Take this article from the Leamington Post. In it Leamington District Secondary School Principal Mike Hawkins notes that there'll be less money coming in than there was before, but it's the other comments and notations that I found telling.
"The vending machines at Leamington District Secondary School used to be teeming with pop, Gatorade, chips and candy. Now, a few bags of baked chips are visible through the glass, as well as some granola bars, selected diet pop and bottled water."

"We still have pizza, but it’s whole wheat, with a healthier sauce and toppings"

"Gone are deep fried french fries and panzerottis, replaced with baked fries and quesadillas.
"
While I'd love to ask, "On what planet are baked chips, granola bars, fast food pizza, baked fries and quesadillas healthy?", the answer clearly is pretty much everywhere on Earth, and it's that answer that's going to leave our current degree of school food reform a non-player in improving the health of our children.

So there you have it. Less money for schools and for all nutritional intents and purposes, the same garbage for kids. Way to go?

Sigh.