Well, surprise… surprise. Ontario high school students aren’t eating at their local cafeteria because the food sucks.
Three years ago, the province of Ontario put in place what they called the “Healthy Schools Strategy”. Chocolate bars, burgers and soft drinks were outlawed and replaced with apples, rice and corn in high school cafeteria’s.
Ontario’s annual Auditor General report was released this week and found in part, sales at High school cafeteria’s are down by as much as 45% and vending machine sales are down by as much as 85%. This making it very difficult for Ontario to reach their goal to reduce childhood obesity by 20% in 5 years.
When the government forces people to do things they don’t want to do, they go elsewhere. High taxes on tobacco products have forced people to go underground to get their fix. Many people cross boarder shop because prices are cheaper… even when you factor in the price of gas (which is also significantly cheaper in the US). In this case, high school students are ditching their local cafeteria’s for fast food options across the street.
When I was in high school, I rarely ate at the cafeteria as I usually brought my lunch from home. Healthy eating starts at home, not with the government telling us what we can and can’t eat.
The auditor general’s report also found that many cafeteria’s aren’t even following the healthy eating plan either. Of the three schools tested for this report, some entree’s had two times the amount of allowable fat and one dish had 40% more sodium than was supposed to be called for.
In addition to the undesirable options, many students say their local cafeteria menu prices are just too high and the fast food dollar menu across the street is more appealing. I bet the next step is banning fast food establishments near high schools. Sorry… I don’t want to give the government bureaucrats any ideas.