Hux Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 If anyone else is on a healthy eating/lifestyle kick (like me!) or has seen "Supersize Me" and all the rest of the factory farm, etc. stuff, I think you'll agree this is a GREAT announcement by the Ont. Government! (and in my view, and example of a difference between a Lib. and Conservative Gov't) Ontario to announce foods banned from schools CTV.ca News Staff Ontario's Education Minister Gerard Kennedy will announce Wednesday a specific list of junk foods to be banned from all of Ontario's 4,000 elementary schools, to combat childhood obesity. CTV's Toronto affiliate CFTO News has obtained the list of banned refreshments and reports that it includes: pop fruit "drinks" sports drinks chips candy bars cookies chocolate covered granola bars Those foods and drinks that will be allowed to stay include: 100 per cent fruit juice milk pretzels popcorn muffins with less than 2 grams of saturated fat) crackers granola All super-sized portions will be banned, and all servings of milk and juice will be limited to no more than 250 ml in size. Government sources tell CFTO News that school boards that have contracts with vendors will be able to continue them for some months. The junk food hit list was compiled by some of the best dietitians in the country. They also include cautions for school principals and teachers to beware of theme days, like pizza days, when pop and chips are featured as special treats. Last fall, Kennedy said he wanted all elementary schools to get rid of junk food by the start of this school year. Earlier this month, Kennedy said he would move to ban junk food from vending machines in elementary schools because not all school boards were doing so voluntarily. He said dozens of Ontario's 72 school boards still haven't complied with the request. Kennedy said he has no plans to ban junk food from high schools because it wouldn't work to stop the munching, since older students are free to leave school property to buy their lunches and snacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Huxtable Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Wow, I really think that this is fantastic news. When I was in school all I could choose from was sh!t or shittier. This really puts the blame back on parents for malnurished children. Fantastic. I love being a Canadian (with a Liberal government). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I think it's good for health blah blah blah, but the civil libertarian in me thinks it's kinda ridiculous... They could've just put warning labels on everything like cigarettes :: Anyways, the results for the kids' nutrition will be great, no question about it. 1.5 thumbs up, 0.5 thumbs down. AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 It's about time, although I sure loved my fries and gravy in highschool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple foot Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Ultimately its up to the parents to make sure they bring a healthy lunch and encourage good eating habits. Banning snack foods is a good step but it doesn't stop them from eating sh!t if they bring it from home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Huxtable Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I expect adults to read labels, not the kids. It's the job of the adults to care for kids. It's that way in every other part of life, why not food? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberHippie Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I think it's a great idea! Now the parents will have to think a little more about what goes into their kids lunch. I do however wonder what will happen with poor families. It seems like junk is cheap, and nutritious is more expensive. Will the poor kids have to go without any lunch? I mean they already can't have peanut butter sandwiches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Totally agreed, Ms. Hux. I forgot the purple font To play devil's advocate, what if the government were to ban soccer, because of sprained ankles? Or certain books? And for the record, I think the food ban is dandy. But I also think choice is a good thing too. AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PassedOutGuy Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 this isnt related to what you can actually BRING to school for luch is it? It seems the only way they could do this is if it was what was supplied by the vendor foir the cafeteria... either way i think its a great start... Guess McGuinty is trying to improve on his B rating... as reported... b stands for broken promises... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple foot Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I think too many parents are looking towards schools and T.V to raise their kids. Parents have to take a bigger role in their kids education, expecially with the way classrooms are set up. There's no time for teachers to address kids who are a little behind with the large class sizes. Parents expect them to get special treatment. Well, there just isn't the resources to help these kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 this is fantastic news! There's a mother who sends her kid to school with potatoe chips and pop for breakfast because she has no time to make anything and she feels it's cheaper!!! Get a fu©king grip...it cost $1.99 for a loaf of bread, and usually around $2.00 to get no name package of meat - that would make at least one sandwich per day, and last a week!! And it takes 2 mins to make a sandwich! This world pisses me off! "Good on" the school system for trying to help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPhish Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I think this is fantastic. I think it will go a long way to increasing attentions spans and curbing(some) behavioral problems. They teach nutrition in school so they shoould do all they can to stand by what they teach by not supplying unhealthy snack's. I don't think this is taking away from a parents responsibility to feed the children right I think it's setting an example for them, uping the motivation for them to take similar steps. Many teachers send home list at the beginging of the school year recomending healthy and cost efficiant snacks to send with the children. Many school in ottawa have made the switch from pizza days to Sub days. Again a helathier choice and setting a better example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalacePrincess Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 "Earlier this month, Kennedy said he would move to ban junk food from vending machines in elementary schools because not all school boards were doing so voluntarily. He said dozens of Ontario's 72 school boards still haven't complied with the request. Kennedy said he has no plans to ban junk food from high schools because it wouldn't work to stop the munching, since older students are free to leave school property to buy their lunches and snacks." okay, that's just dumb. don't get me wrong, i think putting healthier foods into the schools is an excellent idea, but really, truly & honestly, how many ELEMENTARY school kids (which in the non-catholic school boards is what, k-6?) are coming to school and BUYING food anyway? shouldn't the high schools be included in this too? that's where the majority of the student body is actually purchasing their food for lunch -- and if your school is not near places you could buy food elsewhere, you don't have much choice as to whether you're eating in the cafeteria or not. we didn't even have vending machines in my elementary school (and being a catholic school, that was k-8), but i do remember being disgusted the ONLY food you could buy from vending machines in high school was crap. that's good they're not banning the food completely (i.e. kids can still bring whatever they want from home -- well, as long as it hasn't been within a hundred yards from peanut), because sadly, crap food is cheaper than more nutritious stuff, and not everyone can afford to eat the best foods for you. but hopefully this will at least cause parents to take a closer look at what they are packing in their child's lunches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Awesome. Is peanut butter still banned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Is nutritious food really that expensive? It's certainly less convenient but the raw goods like beans, fruits, vegetables, rice, pastas, etc. are all pretty cheap. I can make a mean black bean soup for less than five bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalacePrincess Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 think of it this way -- $0.99 for 3 juice boxes that have 10% real juice, or $2 or $3 or whatever for one tiny bottle of fresh squeezed orange juice. multiply that by five kids and that's a lot more money per week if you're already on a tight budget. and many kids are such finicky eaters that carrot sticks and water for lunch probably aren't going to go over very well. of course, with a bit of creativity you can probably feed your kids healthy food in a fairly economic manner, but that's also going to require more time than many parents have. it's kinda sad that crap is more readily available and less expensive than food that's actually good for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberHippie Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 So let me get this straight, these food items are only being banned from the school selling/proving them to kids? Kids can still bring their own contraban items? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonberry Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 All me and my stomach can say is that I'm glad I went to school when I did... Mind you... I don't think I ate any caf food until high school anyway.... and by that point, I went off school property to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 It would be great if physical fitness would get a bigger push from the government too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gentlemonkey Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 people think i eat too many cho-co-late bars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberHippie Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 It would be great if physical fitness would get a bigger push from the government too. Absolutely. I wish we still had gym class in the work world. It would definitely help the day go by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Huxtable Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Absolutely. I wish we still had gym class in the work world. It would definitely help the day go by. Bouche and I go to the gym almost every lunch hour during the work week. It not only gets us away from our desks, but it really DOES make the day go by faster and keeps us in tip top shape! I highly recommend it. The more we work out, the more we WANT to eat healthier things. Physical fitness goes hand in hand with eating right in my books. We have to get the youth of today moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bokonon Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 it's sad when the state has to intervene because parents are doing nothing for their children's health. if you don't want your kids to buy crap don't send them to school with money, just good healthy food instead, and lots of it. p.s. fresh food is cheaper at the farmers' market and it tastes a lot better too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggo Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 wow just reading this thread makes me want to eat a hunk of broccoli and jog around the block 50 times. wooooooooooohoooooooooooo! but seriously folks, i think this is a great great thing. i was so disgusted by that segment on 'supersize me' where they went into schools' cafeterias.... plain old irresponsibility on the part of the schools and the companies. of course the kids should have better habits ingrained but might as well make it easier to get their hands on the good stuff. kudos to the gov't on that one. PS velvet - as far as the PB goes i know it's allowed in our school; when i was practice teaching on the Lambton-Kent board they said it was just banned in elementaries. good thing, i bring PB&J's for lunch about 4 outta 5 days of the week! [plus my v8 to get my veggies ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaggyBalls Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 i don't think that they can ban what kids eat at school, just ban from selling. that would be an intrusion of freedoms and budding in when it's not really that important to put your foot down. i think it's a good idea but if i were a parent and wanted to throw some chips in with my kid's lunch I think that's between me and my kid (if i were to have one...we'll see someday) a treat here and there is okay. the typical Canadian diet isn't too healthy for the most part. i think it's an awesome idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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