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Stop Marketing Junk
Food to Schools
When
he signed the National School
Lunch Act into law in 1946, Harry Truman said that "no nation is any
healthier than its children." Later that year, Truman expanded on this
theme. "The well nourished school child is a better student," Truman
said. "He is healthier and more alert. He is developing good food
habits which will benefit him for the rest of his life. In short, he
is a better asset for his country in every way."
Congress enacted the National School Lunch Act to achieve the goal
that President Truman articulated so well. The Act established the
National School Lunch Program "to safeguard the health and well-being
of the Nation's children." After extensive hearings, and reviews of
statistical surveys of students, Congress concluded that children
learn better on a healthy diet.
"Propaganda touting the
consumption of junk food is now commonplace in the nation's schools
... Channel One has used the public classrooms
to promote Snickers, Twix, M&M's, Pepsi, Hostess Cakes, Milky Way,
Doritos, Mountain Dew, Nestle's Crunch, Skittles and others."
In its report on the bill, the House Committee on Agriculture wrote:
"The educational features of a properly chosen diet served at school
should not be underemphasized. Not only is the child taught what a
good diet consists of, but his parents
and family likewise are indirectly instructed." In its own report, the
Senate Committee on Agriculture noted that "proper nutrition is
essential for the health and well-being of a child and for his growth
and development as a citizen."
Propaganda touting the consumption of junk food is now commonplace in
the nation's schools. About 12,000 schools show Primedia's Channel
One, an in-school marketing program disguised as a news show, which
features a parade of ads for junk food and soda pop to a contractually
obligated captive audience of about eight million school children. In
recent months, Channel One has used the public classrooms to promote
Snickers, Twix, M&M's, Pepsi, Hostess Cakes, Milky Way, Doritos,
Mountain Dew, Nestle's Crunch, Skittles and others.
This propaganda campaign for bad nutrition is intensifying. Soda pop
is an example. Advertising Age reported last year that "In the last 18
months alone, the number of exclusive soda contracts in school
districts has increased nationwide 300%, to 150." According to Channel
One's Teen Fact Book 2000, schools sell soda pop as their "top
beverage product," and the top food products sold are potato chips,
tortilla chips and cookies. It is probably no accident that childhood
obesity has become a major public health problem in the United States.
An article in the October 27, 1999 issue of the Journal of the
American Medical Association notes "alarming increases in obesity
among children and adolescents," and accompanying editorial remarks on
the role of the "marketing of snack foods" in the obesity epidemic. In
1998, Surgeon General David Satcher observed that many young people in
America today are "starting out obese and dooming themselves to the
difficult task of overcoming a tough illness."
These young people will subject themselves and the whole society to
enormous costs. One recent study estimates that the total annual cost
of obesity in the United States is nearly $100 billion, for diseases
such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, as well as extra
visits to doctors, bed-rest and lost work days.
This is exactly the kind of result that Congress intended the School
Lunch Program to avoid. It sought to promote healthful eating habits
so that young Americans could grow up to be contributors to society,
not medical burdens upon it.
Congress and School Administrators should not be able to take federal
money for school lunches, and then take money or
 products
from corporations to subvert the purposes of the lunch program.
Actions have consequences, and that applies as much to school
administrators as to anyone else. If these people are not willing to
abide by the purposes of the School Lunch Program -- that is, the
"improvement of the health and well-being of the Nation's youth"--then
perhaps they should pay for their own lunch program. Federal taxpayers
deserve better, and so do the nation's youth.
Adapted from Commercial Alert's July 2000 news release letter,
"Coalition Wants Schools to Stop Pushing Junk Food on Children." The
letter in its entirety is available at
www.commercialalert.org.
Commercial Alert's is a national non-profit organization that protects
children and communities from commercialism.
If you want to learn more about Commercial Alert, please call them at
(503) 235-8012 or visit
www.commercialalert.org.
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A Different Kind of
School Lunch
Students in one midwestern community are enjoying fresh, delicious
food plus a big change in their learning environment.
Walk down the
hallways of the Appleton, Wisconsin, Central Alternative High School
and you will see students focused on their education, interacting
successfully with each other and with their teachers. Notice the
calmness and purposefulness that sets these teens apart from others.
You will notice that
the hallways are different in another respect. They aren't lined
with soft drink and junk food machines. Then check out the
cafeteria. There is no smell of grease. Burgers, fries and
 burritos
have been replaced with salads, meats prepared with old fashioned
recipes, and whole grain breads. Fresh fruits and vegetables are
offered and the students drink water.
Grades are up,
truancy is no longer a problem, arguments are rare, and teachers are
able to spend their time teaching. What's going on in Appleton
Wisconsin?
In 1997
Natural Ovens
of Manitowoc, WI initiated a five-year project to bring healthy food
into area schools. The goal was to show that fresh, nutritious food
can make a real difference in the student's behavior, learning and
health.
Just prior to the beginning of the program, Greg Bretthauer was
offered the job of dean of students at the school. What he saw were
teens who were "rude, obnoxious, and ill mannered" and he turned the
job down. Because the school had so many problems with discipline
and weapons violations a police officer was recruited to be on the
staff. He found a school that was out of control.
Today Greg is the dean of students in an atmosphere that is
vastly different from what he saw in 1997.
The story of the Appleton project has
been documented on a short videotape, Impact of Fresh, Healthy
Foods on Learning and Behavior - 2002. It is available from:
Natural Press, P.O. Box 730, Manitowoc, WI 54221-0730. The price of
$6 for each tape includes shipping and handling. If you live outside
the United States, please contact them at
lois.herman@naturalovens.com to ask about price and shipping
for your country.
"I've taught here almost
30 years. I see the kids this year as calmer, easier to talk to. They
just seem more rational. I had thought about retiring this year and
basically I've decided to teach another year
–
I'm having too much fun!"
Dennis Abrahm
Middle School Science Teacher
Principal, LuAnn Coenen is amazed at the
change she has seen in her school. Each year principals are required
to file a report with the state of Wisconsin, detailing the number
of students who have: dropped out, been expelled, been found using
drugs, carrying weapons or who have committed suicide. Since the
start of the
program, she reported, the numbers in every category
have been "zero."
Mary Bruyette, a teacher at the high school, believes "If you've
been guzzling Mountain Dew and eating chips and you're flying all
over the place I don't think you're going to pick up a whole lot in
class." She
reports that the students are now calm and well behaved. "I don't
have to deal with the daily discipline issues; that just isn't an
issue here."
Mary goes on to say, "Our biggest problems now at the school are
parking in the parking lot and student tardiness. I don't have the
disruptions in class or the difficulties with student behavior that
I experienced before we started the food program."
Students who previously had been headed for trouble have turned
their lives around, according to Dr. Thomas Scullen, Superintendent
of the Appleton Area School District. He told the interviewer, "We
have kids who have had a lot of problems and got through the whole
last year without an expulsion. Drop-outs dropped to non-existent.
Kids came to school. They have learned that with healthier foods
it's going to make them a better person. It keeps them more focused
and makes them happier."
Dr. Scullen had expected that the healthy diet would improve
behavior, but he was pleasantly surprised that it has had such an
impact on academic performance.
Mary Bruyette can demand more, academically, from the students
than she previously had. Now she can use all of the class period for
instruction.
The high school's counselor, Deb Larson, says, "I don't have the
angry outbursts so instead we get to deal with the real issues that
are underlying and causing some of the problems in the kid's lives."
Why don't other schools try this approach?
Typically, while school dietitians want children to eat healthier
food, they are convinced such efforts will be futile, and if
students cannot get their fast food in the cafeteria they will buy
it off campus. This does not appear to have been a problem in
Appleton, where the food is not only natural, it is prepared with
care; Natural Ovens made sure of this by hiring and training the
cooks for the school.
Like children on the Feingold Program, once these teens have made
the connection between food, behavior and learning, they tend to
prefer to enjoy the benefits. One student said, "I really like the
food. It tastes good, it's hot, it's fresh."
One girl commented, "Now that I concentrate I think it is easier
to get along with people 'cause now I'm paying attention to what
they have to say and not just worrying about what I have to say to
them." Another student said, "If you're going for a big test you
want to eat great."
The on-campus policeman, Dan Tauber, is able to be a role model
now, instead of a disciplinarian. Students are interested in how he
eats to keep in such good physical shape, and have noticed their
athletic abilities have a lot to do with their diet.
"Returning students are now the advocates for the program. The
kids encourage each other," according to Mary Bruyette. "They set
the example for the new kids. It works great."
Many of the changes are being phased in to Appleton's middle and
elementary schools. Candy machines are gone and pop machines are
being replaced with juice machines or water coolers. There is a
district-wide commitment to healthier eating and lifestyle in
general.
Even in schools where more modest changes have been made, there
are some real differences. Gary Van Lankvelt, principal of the
Einstein Middle School, has seen "more calmness and less bouncy
activity. Students seem to be more alert and focused."
Madison Middle School's principal, Fred Ginnochio says the
students are buying the healthier a la carte items and more are
using the salad bar. He has found when the kids are in the halls "we
have not had one incident all year that I have had to get involved
in with shoving, a fight, aggressive behavior."
Dr. Scullen sees an eventual switchover in all of Appleton's
schools. "It can take several years to make the transition. The
program will sell itself on its own merits, given the time. I think
instead of looking at the food program as a "break-even" we have to
take a look at what do we have to put in to make it really good for
the kids."
What about increased cost?
Natural Ovens
underwrote the cost for their 5 year study that will eventually
impact 200 Wisconsin schools. The price to turn the problem around
was $20,000 a year. Natural Ovens President, Dr. Barbara Reed Stitt,
noted that "one child arrested would cost the schools more."
Dr. Scullen believes, "if it results in a happier kid, improved
learning, and ultimately a better community then it's a cost we
cannot avoid. It's something we must do."
Says Dan Tauber "Let's invest in the kids now, financially, with
food versus invest in them later, financially, with 'how do we
correct the problems we have because they are not eating healthy?'"
"Nutrition for students should be part of the general operating
budget" according to Mary Bruyette. "We're concerned about
everything else. We're concerned about new band uniforms. We're
concerned about the football team. We're concerned about text books.
Why not be concerned about nutrition? That seems to me the basis in
many cases for creating a positive learning environment."
LuAnn Coenen says "I can't buy the
argument that it's too costly for schools to provide good nutrition
for their students. I found that one cost will reduce another. I
don't have the vandalism. I don't have the litter. I don't have the
need for high security. We've got to stop using our most precious
commodity -- our kids -- to make extra money."
For more information on the Appleton,
Wisconsin school project contact
Natural Ovens
at (800) 558-3535.
Source: October 2002 issue of Pure Facts, the newsletter
of the Feingold® Association of the United States, P.O.
Box 6550, Alexandria, VA 22306. www.feingold.org
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