Observation #75 Pizza as a Vegetable

The war on drugs. It has been a colossal waste of time, money and resources. When you attack the supply or do not address the demand, the problem continues. If the demand does not change, the problem will continue to exist. People will find the drugs to do. Instead of attacking the demand through education or treatment facilities, foreign countries are invaded in the name of the war on drugs. Cue the huge leap. The same can be said about the food available in our school cafeterias. People are right to be concerned about the food that is offered. Recently, there has been a movement to have pizza classified as a vegetable so that schools can meet their nutritional requirements. We are outraged but once again we are attacking the supply instead of the demand.

         There will always be food that is bad for you. The supply will always be present. Dairy Queen, I see you over there. I slow down every time I drive by. Do I stop? Killing me. Temptation will always exist. With school cafeterias, temptation will always exist. The school board where I work has put a strict healthy food program into place. No french fries. No pizza for fundraisers. No bakesales.No chocolate bars in the vending machines. No soda in the machines. The only problem with this is that the store beside the school continues to offer a wide array of goodies. Pixie sticks to chips. Instead of the school cafeteria generating income for the school, the corner store is booming. Helping the economy, one crazy energy drink at a time.

         What is the solution? How do we address the demand? Not sure there is an answer. I know some parents who don’t let their kids have any sugar. All you need is one kid on the playground with a pocket full of jawbreakers. “First one’s free man.” You’ve got yourself a kid hitting the FunDip hard in his bedroom after you go to sleep. Supply vs. demand. Instead of handing your kid five bucks in the morning, make their lunch. Alternate days where they make your lunch. Provide choice to your kids. Live by example. Attack the demand. Give your kids the tools to choose an apple over a cookie. I don’t know. Its easier said than done but pretending that bad food doesn’t exist isn’t the solution either.