Junk food and schools: Readers respond
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A story about junk food and schools prompted several readers to write about their experiences. One said he had seen vendors for years near one school.
‘There are lines of overweight children buying unhealthy snacks from these vendors daily. LAPD and LA County Sheriff patrol cars/motorcycles constantly drive by these vendors without stopping to prevent this form of child abuse,’ he wrote.
A reader named Dan reacted to the school officials who told auditors they were unaware of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s policies about selling food. ‘I don’t work for LA Unified and I live in Orange County but I knew about the no junk food policy just from the press reports and yet they allowed the school administrators get away with saying that they did not know about it. Give me a break.’
Mark L. Friedman, who chairs the science department at Animo Leadership Charter High School, says his school has ‘battled the junk food issue for three years and have finally won through a concerted effort by staff, administrators, parents and student government active involvement.
‘There is no soda nor junk food sold at school- and most teachers model this. ... We KNOW that student comportment and academic prowess is partially determined by the food students eat!’
--Mary MacVean
