| Roman Bystrianyk 2005-07-26, 9:06 am |
| Harrison Sheppard, "Governor endorses bill to ban soda at schools",
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, July 25, 2005,
Link:
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Storie...2981173,00.html
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threw his support Monday behind pending
bills to ban soda and junk food in schools throughout California,
saying the state needs to do more to fight childhood obesity.
The bills by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Norwalk, would set statewide
standards limiting the amount of fat and sugar in food served at school
and banning soda sales.
"This legislation will improve school nutrition by removing junk food
and sodas from our public schools," Schwarzenegger said at a news
conference attended by students from the San Fernando Valley. "This
legislation is absolutely critical, not only for bringing more healthy
food into our schools, but also because California is facing an obesity
epidemic."
Obesity-related health problems, Schwarzenegger said, cost the state
$28 billion a year, as the ratio of overweight children nationally
grows.
The Los Angeles Unified School District has already adopted nutrition
standards similar to those in the bill, including banning soda and
lowering the content of fat and sugar in school meals.
The bills, SB 12 and SB 965, have passed the Senate and will be taken
up by the Assembly when it returns from recess next month.
Some senators who voted against the bills argued that the state should
not be dictating food policy to local school districts.
Sen. George Runner, R-Antelope Valley, who voted against the bill,
agrees with the intent of improving school nutrition but believes it
should be up to local districts to make those decisions.
"He had reservations about the way this bill is crafted because it
really has a one-size-fits-all description," said Runner aide Becky
Warren. "More of a local approach is what he prefers, where local
school boards can set policy on their own."
But Escutia said many districts had asked the state to set uniform
standards for the sake of consistency.
"Some of the school districts did do it on their own. But a lot of
school districts which by the way support the bill said let's just have
uniform standards across the state. Many of them are saying we need the
state to intervene to develop and establish that uniformity."
Several students from the San Fernando Valley attended the governor's
news conference, including Harrison Seeley and Bryan Duarte, who
graduated in June from Monroe High School. They were involved in
setting up a weekend farmers market at Monroe in an effort to try to
get students to eat healthier foods, and they continue to work with
school officials on nutrition issues.
"Kids tend to think they're invincible," Seeley said. "But we want to
show them they're not but in a good way. To show them that if you eat
healthy, you'll have a healthy life."
Harrison Sheppard can be reached by e-mail
harrison.sheppard@dailynews.com or by phone at (916) 446-6723.
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