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SALT LAKE CITY -- Salt Lake City teenagers don't seem convinced a bill in the state Legislature would actually help them to eat better by getting rid of junk food in the school vending machines.
Sen. Pat Jones's bill would require schools to meet a statewide healthier standard for vending machines. It's still in draft form, but if approved, schools could have less healthy options in the machines only with approval from their school community councils.
Outside East High School near 800 South and 1300 East, students were skeptical about the bill's potential future success.
Related:
Lawmakers take aim at junk food in schools
Sen. Pat Jones is sponsoring a measure that gives school community councils a vote in what is offered in vending machines."All they have is like chips and soda," said one boy.
Another girl said you could find healthier options if you knew where to look. "There's one [machine] that's just right back here, and it's like Snapple and juices," she said.
But her friend added, "And the rest of them are just soda and crap and junk."
East is situated within easy walking distance of at least two convenience stores, so many students told KSL they'd just get their snack foods somewhere else if they couldn't get it at school.
"No one uses the machines that I know of," said one boy, holding a donut from the convenience store.
Right now, it's up to each school district how to handle what goes into its vending machines. Because of an agreement a few years ago with the soft drink companies, many offer alternatives to soda alongside the pop, even though the soda is still there.
The Granite, Jordan and Salt Lake City districts all have policies encouraging schools to offer healthy alternatives in their snack machines. In Salt Lake, the items in the machines are limited to no more than 250 calories and must also meet the minimum USDA guidelines.
You can see Granite's policy about the vending machines at this link, Jordan's at this link, and Salt Lake City's here.
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
