Schools Assess Effect of Bill to Ban Junk Food

A potential state ban on selling junk food and sugary drinks to young students has Ventura County’s school districts looking for more nutritional snacks and gauging how much vending revenue they will lose.

On Thursday, Pleasant Valley School District trustees plan to review a report detailing what is sold in vending machines on their elementary and middle school campuses, said Jan Maez, chief business official for the district.

In Ventura, officials are studying the potential financial loss if the district eliminates vending machines, said Joe Richards, an assistant superintendent. A report expected to go soon to the Ventura Unified School District board would also include options such as replacing sodas with healthier drinks such as water or milk, he said.

A bill proposed by state Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier) would eliminate the sale of fatty foods and sugar-laden drinks in elementary schools by 2004.

The proposed law, to be debated in the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week, also would restrict sales of soda to middle school students until after each day’s final lunch break, said Carrie Krueger, legislative consultant to Escutia.

The law would prohibit the sale of sweets in cafeterias, snack bars, vending machines and even student bake sales. Originally, Escutia sought to ban all junk food on all California public school campuses. She agreed to amendments that scaled back the proposal to just elementary schools, but has vowed to continue fighting the issue during the next four years.

The issue is a personal one for Escutia, who has two young children and suffers from “borderline” diabetes.

Jim Pecola, nutrition director for the Oxnard Elementary School District, said he supports an even stricter ban on junk food in schools. For some students, what they eat at school accounts for two-thirds of their daily food intake.

“Any impact we could have in a positive way would be very beneficial to them,” he said.

Escutia’s push has attracted a long list of opponents, from the makers of Pepsi-Cola and Jelly Belly Candy to school districts fearing revenue loss.

In Camarillo’s Pleasant Valley district, vending machines at three middle schools generate up to $5,000 each in annual revenue that helps fund student activities, Maez said. Most sell soda pop or sugar-based fruit drinks.

Board member Sandra Berg, who asked for the vending machine report before the legislation was proposed, said schools should be able to devise ways to supplement any financial losses without compromising students’ health.

“We were seeing students with their $2 hot-lunch money lined up at the soda machine, and their parents were none the wiser,” she said. “I don’t think the only choices for kids should be caffeine, sugar and carbonation.”

Maez said she will wait for direction from the school board before looking into the issue further.

The Pleasant Valley School District is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at Camarillo City Hall, 601 N. Carmen Drive.