Pure Facts: Jund Food Wars

Not everyone believes it's a good idea to improve the foods available in our schools. The industry is fighting hard to protect its profits, and is meeting with some success.

The battles are taking place in communities and state legislatures throughout the country, and the results are mixed. California, New York and Colorado have enacted restrictions on the foods that can be served in their schools, and it is under discussion in Arizona, Nebraska, Washington, Iowa, Nevada, Connecticut and Kentucky. In some states the industry has had success, fighting off attempts at restrictions by these legislatures: Montana, Virginia, Maine, Oklahoma, Maryland, Tennessee, Michigan and Texas.

Although most of the action is taking place in the United States, there is concern in other countries. The Education Minister in British Columbia is encouraging local school boards to consider removal of soft drinks and junk foods in their schools. Ontario's Premier is outspoken in his desire to remove soft drinks and junk snacks in that province's elementary schools.

The World Health Organization blames soft drinks for the increase in worldwide childhood obesity and calls for the removal of vending machines in schools. The agency has also recommended a tax increase on soft drinks and encouraged governments to ban television commercials that promote sugary products to children.

In response, the European Vending Association (EVA) has suggested other options such as stocking the vending machines with healthier snacks and drinks. The trade group has outlined their rebuttal, which is similar to the objections offered by The junk food/beverage defenses

The European Vending Association offers its perspective:

Vending machines can offer a wide range of food and drinks (including healthy ones).
True. The machines are not the problem; the issue is what items are in them. Junk food is the most profitable, but vendors will switch to healthier choices rather than see their machines removed.
Products offered in vending machines supplement the other foods served in schools; they don't replace them.
Whoever wrote this needs to spend some time in schools and observe what many of the students are eating. (Better tasting school lunches would go a long way to discourage children from consuming cola/candy lunches.)
Eating habits are learned in the very early years of infancy.
Yes, but many parents of today's infants grew up on microwaved meals, fast foods and the contents of school vending machines.
Reversing obesity rates requires a program that involves (a) better nutrition education, (b) more physical exercise, and (c) appropriate parenting.
Prohibiting vending machines or the classic food and drink sold in them won't stimulate better eating habits.
Nice try. Some documentation would be helpful here...or just a little common sense will do.
Children who want these foods can get them elsewhere, thereby disrupting school activities, or worse, get in danger by quickly leaving the school to purchase them.
We haven't heard this old line for many years. (How heartening to know the vending operator's primary concern is the safety of our students!) In schools where good food has been introduced, students arrive early to enjoy it, and prefer it to what they had previously been eating. Of course, for those students who have become addicted to high caffeine soft drinks, they might feel compelled to get their "fix" off campus. [Editor's note: Perhaps an emergency can of Mountain Dew could be kept in the nurse's office.]

Waging war on healthy food

It may seem like a simple matter to bring good food into our schools. Who can argue that the increase in childhood obesity is linked — at least in part -- to the rise in junk food consumption? But half a century ago it seemed like a simple matter to get people to quit smoking once it became obvious that cigarettes were killing them.

A consortium of special interests, along with the best P.R. that money can buy, is hard at work to emulate the years of success the tobacco industry enjoyed.

When a special interest is threatened, the favored response is to form an alliance of groups and create an industry lobby with a name that sounds both reassuring and legitimate.

Dilute, Distract & Delay

Then, go on to dilute the message of your opposition (creating your own facts when needed), and try to turn the focus elsewhere. Whenever possible, paint your opponent as a radical and yourself as a moderate voice of reason. While such tactics might not succeed in the long run, every week that reform is delayed amounts to huge financial gains.

"The American Council on Fitness and Nutrition"

This recently-formed group is leading the charge against those who would remove junk foods from our schools. It is composed primarily of industry trade groups, including:

National Soft Drink Association
Sugar Association
Chocolate Manufacturers Association
Snack Food Association
National Council of Chain Restaurants
National Confectioners Association
National Automatic Merchandising Association
Kraft Foods (owned by Philip Morris Tobacco Co.)
American Frozen Food Institute
Association of National Advertisers
Food Marketing Institute
Grocery Manufacturers Association
International Dairy Foods Association
American Association of Advertising Agencies

The American Council on Fitness and Nutrition is only one of the industry groups working to prevent the removal of junk food from schools. They are joined by:

Center for Consumer Freedom (supported by restaurants and food companies)
Californians for Sensible School Nutrition Policy (soft drink, snack, and vending machine interests)

Also weighing in on the junk food side are:

California Association of Directors of Activities (which receives money from the soda industry)
California Food Service Association
National School Boards Association

The company you keep

Industries like to polish their tarnished image by hanging out with good role models. Cigarette companies sponsor sporting events. Soft drink money pays for athletic equipment. And manufacturers of junk food have suddenly become advocates for physical education and "balanced diets" - but there's no real description of what they mean by this.

In the 1970s and 1980s cereal companies promoted their highly sugared products by calling them "part of a good nutritious breakfast." The translation is: if all the rest of the food you eat is nourishing, then it's O.K. to eat the junk we sell.

Today the National Soft Drink Association's spin is: "Soft drinks are a complement to many types of foods that together form a balanced diet."

Here are some nuggets from the industry's trade group:

The soft drink industry has a long commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle for individuals — especially children. As part of that ongoing commitment, the industry recognizes:

The importance of at least 20 minutes of daily physical exercise and the need for daily physical education classes in grades K through 12.
An important key to a healthy lifestyle is eating a balanced diet that consumes a wide variety of foods in moderation. All foods and beverages can fit into a healthy diet, and experts agree that sugar — in moderate amounts — has a place in a healthy diet.
Consuming at least 67 ounces of fluid each day (even more for those who are physically active) is important to your health. Adults and children should consume a wide variety of fluids each day, including water, milk, juices, teas, sports drinks and soft drinks to maintain proper hydration.

The vending machine people weigh in

The National Automatic Merchandising Association echoes their colleague's recommendations for solving the obesity problem.

"Better education about healthy diets and increased physical activity" are the solutions offered by the association's senior vice president and chief counsel, Tom McMahon.

After acknowledging the growing problem of obesity, McMahon said: "We do not believe that pulling soft drinks or candy bars or snack items out of vending machines will help to solve that problem."

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that the average teen drinks about 2 soft drinks a day, to equal 300 extra calories, and 2.5 additional pounds per month.

He acknowledged that vending machines sometimes offer nutritious foods, but focused primarily on the defense of junk food. Mr. McMahon's comment on student consumption will astonish parents, teachers and health advocates. McMahon claims that according to a survey of vending machine suppliers:

He says, "The average per-student consumption rate, per week, is less than one snack item, less than one candy bar, and only about 16 ounces of carbonated drinks per student, per week. We find it hard to believe that those sales could be contributing in any significant way to the problem of obesity."