Redmond To Eliminate Soda/Candy Sales

The Redmond School Board approved a recommendation from the District's Wellness and Nutrition Education Committee on Wednesday night that eliminates the sale of "non-nutritious" foods and beverages in schools. On the planned toss list are products such as "carbonated soft drinks and candy (or other bars containing more than 35 percent total sugar by weight), candies made predominately from sweeteners (e.g., licorice, jelly beans, gum drops, marshmallows), chewing gum and water ices" (whatever water ice is). Full story over here on Bend.com.

My thoughts: Getting rid of them from the machines is not going to stop kids from eating them during the school day. When I was in high-school, I would just keep my food and stash of soda in the fridge in the newsroom. What I would've liked to have seen is better alternatives -- for example, the news Pepsi Edge sodas are still pretty tasty, and have half the sugar of regular Pepsi. And I'm sure there are candy alternatives that have less sugar and fat. Kids that have diet problems are going to have diet problems, and having a school take away that stuff isn't really going to help them a whole lot when they go home and get the garbage again. I do know, however, that I needed the caffeinated beverages in high school to keep me awake, as I was up at 5:00am everyday for cross country practice, then early-bird jazz band, school all day, then my afternoon cross country practice and then I'd hit the newsroom to check in on the newspaper (as I was editor-in-chief, but was never actually enrolled in the class). I usually rolled home about 6:30-7:00PM.

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