By Abby Bryson
The Sailors’ Log
Mona Shores HS
1st Place
Division 3, News Writing
News Analysis
A mandate from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), called Smart Snacks in Schools, will radically affect snacks that are allowed to be sold in schools.
The mandate, headed by First Lady Michelle Obama, was signed by the President and sets the standards for school food to be more healthy within the next 15 years.
A strict set of guidelines limiting the calories, fat, sugar, and ingredients in school food will be put into place eventually, high school principal Jennifer Bustard said. The guidelines are for foods sold from midnight to a half hour after school ends but do not apply to concession stands and weekend events.
The Shores District does not have an official policy at this time; however, a potential policy has been proposed and may be approved later this school year, Bustard said. For now, Bustard said she is letting teachers who fundraise know early so they can adjust what they sell to meet these new standards.
“I told the teachers (whom the mandate directly affects) to ask the kids what on the list of healthy snacks they would buy,” Bustard said. “Let that be the basis for your fundraising.”
Although this mandate is being proposed to help students make healthy decisions, some staff, including Bustard, said that it places overpowering restrictions on a decision that should be a choice.
“I think people should have to right to choose what they eat,” Bustard said. “We should be teaching a healthy decision- making process, but at the end of the day, people should be able to choose what they eat. If one day, (someone) wants to have a Kit Kat, it’s OK as long as (he) doesn’t have a Kit Kat every meal.”
Caryn Elam, director of food services at Shores, said she agrees with Bustard that the mandate should help teach students healthy choices.
“School is a place of learning, including learning about healthy eating,” Elam said. “When we show students that healthy food can taste good and teach them what healthy portions sizes look like, etc., they learn important lessons. Also, there are many children who do not get much to eat at home and getting a healthy breakfast and lunch at school is super important as those may be the only meals they get that day.”
However, Elam said the mandate only restricts what can be sold to students; meaning students can still have class parties and occasional treats given to them. “I do wish that the rule only affected actual school hours so that fundraising groups could still try to sell their wares immediately before and after school,” Elam said. “That would be a good compromise. However, by participating in the National School Lunch Program and following all their guidelines, our school district gets valuable reimbursements and financial support so we can help needier students, and we can also say with confidence that Mona Shores students are eating healthy, whole grain, low fat, and low sodium foods. That’s a good thing.”
Choir director Shawn Lawton, whose organizations have been selling candy and other snacks for about eight years, said he will have to get rid of the candy and a few other items that he sells in order to comply with the new mandate.
“I’m unimpressed with the guidelines,” Lawton said. “They’ve replaced fat with stuff that’s not real. It’s science; it’s not really food.”
Lawton said he typically made about $4,000 to $5,000 a year selling candy and other snacks at the beginning of each hour to his students.
“(The mandate) eliminates (my fundraising), and that is the money that I use for a lot of student-based projects,” Lawton said. “If I choose not to sell the healthy-type snacks that are being recommended by the government, which I don’t plan to do because I’ve tasted some of them and they’re honestly kind of gross tasting, then I won’t have that income. Either I’m going to have to stop funding those things or find another income source, and that’s never fun to do.”
Girls’ cross country coach Heather Hall, who also teaches psychology, sells candy and snacks throughout the day. She said she has been selling for three years and makes about a couple hundred dollars a month for the girls’ cross country team.
“I understand that it’s a good thing that we’re getting people healthier, but it’s messing up my fundraising,” Hall said. “We do need to have a healthier society. (But,) that was my main source of income for my team. It’s a little disappointing.”
However, social studies teacher Jason Crago, who is also the varsity softball coach, has been selling healthy snacks and agrees with the USDA’s mandate. For about four years, Crago said he has been selling fresh fruit, such as bananas and apples, to raise funds for his team.
“I think it’s a good thing to get people to eat fresh fruit, especially in the fall when we have it fresh in Michigan,” Crago said. “We have way too much access to sugar in the United States. I think the more you limit that in schools, the better. The pop machines still are a big seller in the school, so I think there’s some ways to go, but limiting candy is a good thing.”