Apr 08 2008
Bill to Ban Unhealthy Food at Schools Stalls
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina lawmakers just couldn’t swallow the idea of requiring healthy food in schools.
A legislative proposal to ban greasy pepperoni pizza from school lunch lines and Moon Pies from vending machines appears dead for the year.
A House panel voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to postpone further debate on the measure, saying local school boards should decide what students can buy.
I love how the AP phrases the first sentence as if the legislature should be shamed for not supporting this authoritative bill. Yes, the legislature should be shamed for a great many reasons, but this is not one of them. Their decision to not pass this was sound. This is a local issue.
Parents are more than capable of deciding what their children should and should not eat. Let the parents work with their local school boards to make these decisions. We don’t need elected officials at the state capital raising our children for us.
I would argue that the food they are eating isn’t even as much the problem as is the lack of physical activity today. I am 31 years old. Yeah, we had Super Mario Bros. but I don’t remember kids when I was that age spending dawn till dusk behind the remote control hooked on rescuing Princess Toadstool in world 8-4. We were still fairly athletic outside, at least where I lived. Kids simply aren’t getting the exercise they need any more. Technology is making them fat.
