Over the last 15 years, many high schools and middle schools in the United States have allowed snack foods such as soft drinks, candy, and potato chips to be sold in vending machines in their buildings. Expensive advertising campaigns , paid for by the makers of these products, have encouraged students to snack on junk food instead of healthy food such as fruits and vegetables. As a result, many students eat junk food for lunch and during the day.
Federal and state rules that restrict vending machine products from being sold at lunchtime are simply ignored. Students who eat junk food every day are likely to become obese or to suffer from tooth decay. As adults, they may develop serious diseases, like diabetes, which add to the country’s health care costs. Yet schools continue to make junk food easily available to students. They do this because their government-funded budgets only cover basic school services.
The money they receive from junk food manufacturers can add $50,000 or more to their budgets each year. Schools that allow only one particular brand of soft drink, such as Coke, to be sold in vending machines can make much more money. This money is used to pay for things like computer equipment, field trips, special activities, and marching bands. The more junk food students buy from the vending machines, the more money the schools make. Since 2001, many U.S. lawmakers, parent groups, and communities have tried to change this situation.
They believe that schools should sell nothing but nutritious food at lunchtime. They also believe that corporations should not be offering schools large sums of money to ignore the health risks of junk food. However, many schools have opposed their actions because they do not want to lose the money they make from junk food sales. Many people believe that, instead of being safe places, schools today are unhealthy places for students.
Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions
- What is “junk food”? Give some examples of junk food?
- Do you eat a lot of junk food?
- Do you think that children nowadays eat too much junk food?
- What is a vending machine? Are there vending machines in public schools in your city? If so, what kind of products do they sell?
- How do schools in your area pay for things such as sports equipment, musical instruments, computer