There's a lot of news about snacking making headlines lately. One report says local governments should tax high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and drinks, i.e. snack foods, in order to combat childhood obesity. Another report says that Americans are snacking more than ever and the trend is set to increase as ‘grab-and-go’ foods become more diverse and easily available.
Take public schools. Kitchens are struggling with balancing profits and nutrition. For example, the lunch menu is supposed to limit the amount of french fries they serve per week. But fries, the greasy, tasty, calorie laden goodies that they are, are more popular than say, the organic carrot sticks.
This year, one school is introducing even more snack options like hot pretzels - another deliciously deadly sin. Talk about diversity. I guess the final question is will making the cost of bad-for-your health, but good-for-your-soul snacks more expensive send kids running to that bag of organic carrots? Or is the solution to reduce or eliminate selling snacks at lunch?
Public school lunches are not very high on the nutrition scale. I taught elementary for 32 years and have seen it all. Grease loaded commercial grade "fat" burgers etc. This is not about feeding the kids it is about bigger govt, higher taxes, and control.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad state of affairs when I have to agree that school lunches are more about profit than nutrition. But cash is king and there is no palatable right answer, now.....
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