Federal Food Ban Would Suck Money Out of Schools and Accomplish Nothing

In the release reproduced here, the Center announced its staunch opposition to a new federal proposal to restrict food choices in the nation’s schools.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 11, 2004

Marshall Manson

703.535.5836

CFIF Opposes Federal Plan to Ban Certain Foods from the Nation’s Schools

Federal Mandate Would Suck Money Out of School Districts and Accomplish Nothing for Students

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Center for Individual Freedom today announced its staunch opposition to a new federal proposal to restrict food choices in the nation’s schools. Senator Tom Harkin (D-NE) and other members of Congress pressed for such a plan at a Capitol Hill press conference today.

"Senator Harkin and his co-sponsors have hopped on the ‘we know what’s best for your children’ bandwagon, again. But this mandate will only suck much-needed money out of schools while failing to teach children about personal responsibility and how to make good nutritional choices," said Marshall Manson, the Center’s Vice President of Public Affairs. "Local school districts, parents, teachers, and students should decide what foods are available at schools, not the federal government."

"Instead of teaching students to eat in moderation and encouraging them to make smart choices, Senator Harkin wants to take away their choices and mandate their behavior. That’s the wrong approach," Manson continued.

According to the General Accounting Office, in eighty-two percent of schools, student clubs, bands, sports teams, and other student organizations relied on food sales for fund-raising. Seventy-six percent of these fund raising efforts sold "chocolate candy," providing millions of dollars a year for arts programs, athletics, and field trips.

"Vending machines and food-sale fundraisers represent a major source of revenue for local schools. They help offer students experiences that would not otherwise be available. The federal government is in no position to replace that money, which makes this plan a non-starter," Manson said. "The irony is that such a mandate would undercut funding for extra-curricular activities like sports, which help kids stay fit."

The GAO also reported that eleven percent of middle schools and twenty-seven percent of high schools have open-campus lunch policies.

"A federal mandate won’t stop children from eating the foods they want. They’ll ‘brown bag it’. Or at schools with open lunches, more kids will pass on the cafeteria and go off campus to find the foods they want. That would put more children on the road where they can get hurt. It would also reduce the number of participants in the federal lunch program, taking more money out of local schools. A crisis of obesity does not require legislative lunacy," Manson concluded.

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The Center for Individual Freedom is a non-profit, non-partisan constitutional advocacy organization dedicated to protecting individual liberty and individual freedom. For more information, visit www.cfif.org.

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