Child nutrition vs. the state budget Child nutrition vs. the state budget (September 07, 2001)

Bill that would ban high-fat, high-sugar foods in public schools is scaled back

By Amy Goodpaster Strebe

What began as a bill by State Senator Martha Escutia (D-Norwalk) to prevent sales of junk food in schools has evolved into a controversial issue that has many school administrators siding with junk-food vendors.

Senate Bill 19, known as the Pupil Nutrition, Health and Achievement Act of 2001, seeks to eliminate the sale of sodas and restrict the amount of sweetener that drinks contain, as well as limit high-fat and high-sugar snacks served on the campuses of public schools throughout the state of California.

Legislation that would have banned these foods was substantially weakened Aug. 21 under heavy lobbying by the California School Administrators and the California School Food Service Association, whose members argue that the bill would bankrupt many cafeterias and school programs that rely on the sale of such items for fundraising.

The bill approved last month by the Assembly Health Committee was heavily amended to apply mainly to elementary schools, where children have relatively little access to soda and junk food.

"The major cuts in the policy by the committee scaled back the (proposals for) high schools completely except for the pilot program, and in middle schools sodas would only be available at the end of the last lunch period," said Carrie Kruger, a consultant for Escutia in Sacramento.

These concessions on the part of the legislators have paved the way for the high schools and middle schools to continue to utilize monies generated from large soda companies, like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, for school programs and activities.

With the impact on the higher grades substantially scaled back, the bill now focuses its attention on elementary schools.

"Elementary schools will see a big reduction in high-fat, high-sugar foods and drinks, which is important because we should be protecting these kids at a young age from unhealthy foods," Krueger said.

Rose Filicetti, a Mountain View-Whisman School District trustee said that, although well intentioned, she feels that SB 19 may not be well researched or well thought out.

"It's a complex issue for a variety of reasons," she said. "As an elementary school district, we have no commercial endorsement or product contracts or vending machines for students, but many of our elementary schools and middle schools have student stores where they sell various food items to raise money for booster clubs and sports activities. It's the indirect funding that would be impacted," Filicetti said.

Filicetti said although she approves of the bill trying to minimize the amount of junk food school-aged children have access to on campus, she is concerned that Escutia did not account for alternative funding sources when seeking to eliminate the high-calorie snacks.

"Certainly if state funding for education were adequate, or were even at the national average, local agencies would be able to make decisions that were not impacted by funding," she said. "We all want our kids to eat healthy, but some of our schools rely on proceeds from these sales to fund academic field trips, equipment and uniforms for after-school sports, music, etc. I would like to see a local discussion of consistent guidelines."

Filicetti said that her interest in SB 19 stems from her involvement in a collaborative effort of the district, the Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF), and the Mountain View-based ALZA Corporation, to expand the elementary physical education pilot program.

"We are in the development stage of a Community Children's Health Initiative that includes certificated physical, nutritional, and health education, targeted at pre-teen fourth and fifth grade students," she said. "This is a wonderful way to broaden our students' awareness of health-related issues."

Although Senate Bill 19 has been significantly trimmed down, Krueger said it is still a strong step in the right direction.

"Senator Escutia sees this as a first step of many to help eliminate junk food from public school campuses," she said. "She has made the commitment to put this issue at the top of her agenda."

SB 19 will be going before the Appropriations Committee Sept. 6. If approved it will then proceed on to the Assembly floor, then back to the Senate for concurrence, and finally to the governor, who has until Oct. 14 to veto or sign the bill into law.