by South Carolina Policy Council
South Carolina Policy Council
March 22, 2012
It strikes one as naïve to think the reason school districts purchase unhealthy food is because they haven’t been sufficiently “encouraged” to do so, or because officials haven’t been exposed to enough helpful “workshops” on healthy eating and the virtues of locally grown produce. Schools buy processed food because it’s cheaper than unprocessed food. It’s as simple as that. And as long as it stays that way, no government program is going to make them change their minds. There are ways state and federal lawmakers can begin to make locally grown food more affordable. Getting rid of checkoff programs would be a start. We also have to lower schools’ administrative overhead and think about cutting federal dependence. These are small steps, and they’re politically unexciting. But they would at least address the actual problem. Creating yet another unaccountable, expensive program won’t.
No comments:
Post a Comment