Regulations of Competitive Foods
There has been a lot of recent effort to pass legislation that regulates competitive foods. Schools are finally realizing that they need to get rid of the non-nutritious snacks and start replacing them with something better. The video below was made by a company called H.U.M.A.N that is aiming to replace current vending machines with their own that provide nutritionally balanced snacks.
What all this means is that in recent years, childhood obesity and other health problems have become so prevalent in American schools that officials are finally realizing that the current situation is not right. It's time for a change. It's time to turn to healthier alternatives for students and to teach them about the importance of healthy eating. In 2003, regulations from the USDA started being pushed, but in 2007 not much progress was made. The USDA ruled that foods with minimal nutrition should not be sold in the cafeteria during meal times, but that still allowed vending machines placed right outside of the cafeteria to be running at all times during the school day, even during meal times (Fleischhacker, 2007). The following graphic illustrates the states that have regulations on competitive foods provided to students in 2010.
Even though a good amount of the states have regulations, these regulations hardly stop the consumption of junk foods in schools. The same foods are still provided to students, the schools just have a little harder job of getting around the rules to provide it to them (Fleischhacker, 2007). As educators, students, and parents; we need to push for the regulation of competitive foods in schools if we truly wish for a healthy food environment.