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Fighting a losing battle against junk food
December 27, 2011 by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) at 08:49 AM
There are a lot of new regulations in Ontario, governing everything from mandatory security guards at functions where alcohol is served to requirements for safety equipment in boats to mandatory sexual harassment training to how thorough auditors have to be and on and on. Here's a libertarian take on the new regulations that control what kinds of foods and beverages may be sold in schools. H/T to AS
I reproduce here some examples of the unanticipated side effects that have cropped up in other similarly-regulated jurisdictions.
- Last week, Van Nuys High School juniors, Iraides Renteria and Mayra Gutierrez told the LA Times, they considered the new school fare "nasty, rotty stuff," as they pulled three bags of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and soda from their backpacks – which they very well may have purchased from one of the junk food “dealers” on campus. At Van Nuys High, a Junior ROTC officer and an art teacher have been caught selling candy, chips, and instant noodles to students.
- Following the passage of the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy, which banned candy, enterprising students at Austin High began selling bags full of candy at premium prices, with some reportedly making up to $200 per week.
- Similarly, young entrepreneurs at one Boca Raton (Florida) middle school make runs to the local Costco and buy candy bars, doughnuts, and other high-calorie snacks in bulk. They then offer these goodies for sale in an environment that has supposedly eradicated such goodies.
- An eighth-grade student body vice president in Connecticut was forced to resign after buying Skittles from an underground "dealer."
- The U.K. has also seen its share of black market trade in banned foods, snacks, and beverages, with schools in Oxford, Dorset, and Essex reporting healthy underground markets trading in food contraband. The plots ranged from kids selling McDonald's hamburgers in playgrounds to bicycle-riding entrepreneurs hauling bags of soft drinks and milk chocolate for sale.
A little over-kill on the dramatics. If anyone actually looks at the buildings on the route to their child’s school, they will see a plethora of fast food restaurants and convenience stores. Children in Ontario hardly need dealers to get their junk food fix. Even out here in the boonies, our schools have stores and restaurants within a block or two of the school building.
That is the Achilles heel of McGuinty’s law - students are making the choice with their feet. It is infinitely more difficult to educate them about healthy food choices when they are off school property. From the number of fast food, pizza and Chinese food boxes in the halls after lunch, the students in my school have overwhelmingly rejected Dalton’s law.
The real loser? The students themselves - and neither they nor the government know it. Our cafeteria used to ADD $30-40,000 per year to the school budget. That money was used to defray the costs of the football team, bands, and so on. Now that money goes to private entrepreneurs.