The Pros And Cons Of Vending Machines

There is a dramatic increase in the number of children who are being affected by diabetes and obesity in America. Sugary drinks and unhealthy snacks should be taken out of the vending machines in schools and replaced with healthier choices to help stop this trend. Some may argue that taking out the options it is taking away a student’s right to choose what they will and will not eat. However, by taking out the sugary drinks healthy habits are encouraged, future diseases are avoided, and a healthier generation is brought up.

“In 1994, Congress required that the USDA bring school meals into compliance with the dietary guideline standard” (pg. 192). Although, school meals have made some improvement in quantity and variation, the issue of quality is still a controversy. The meals are still being provided through processing factories, school stores and vending machines. In addition, soft drinks in schools are prevalent under the “pouring rights contract” (p.196). However, history has progressed from children suffering with malnutrition, to obesity and health issues as a result of staggering numbers of high caloric foods, processed foods and foods rich in sweetener. In addition, “school kitchens across the country are shutting down in favor of facilities that can reheat and serve processed foods. The logic that follows this decision is the efficiency of centralized food production with easily trained workers” (Laskawy, 2011, para. 4). The reality is that most schools do not provide fresh food. However, the majority of schools have conformed to private processed food companies, which provide exclusive frozen products to meet the school meal requirements. Therefore, students’ health and well being are jeopardized.

In the world, more than half of the people do not know about GMOs. This means that those people would not understand the health issues that one healthy food could contain. By these

Every day, millions of Texans spend their money on the one thing they need to survive: food. Whether at a grocery store or a restaurant, food has never been more easily accessible in our history. With this increase in accessibility, the different options of foods to choose from have also increased. But although people now have the ability to choose between fat-free, low-carb, or gluten-free foods, they fail to make the most vital decision in deciding what will go in their bodies; the presence of Genetically Modified Organisms. Although Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs, haven’t been scientifically proven to be safe to consume, 70% of the food that Americans consume has had some form of altering by means of genetic engineering. The problem

The government may not be the only responsible party for what is going on in America, Fast Food corporations have grown into a part of everyday life. Relentless advertising focused on children with the use cartoon characters and larger portions or extra sizes to entice people. Yves Engler, author of Obesity: Much of the Responsibility Lies with Corporations, points out it’s not only fast food restaurants where unhealthy products are being consumed, but also soft drink companies with high calorie soda pop who are giving money to cash-strapped schools to advertise their product on school televisions. Meanwhile targeting young children who get their parents to buy their products. Engler proposes a solution regarding the increase in childhood obesity by first stating that vending machines should be removed from schools and the

Childhood obesity is an epidemic in the United States, nearly twenty percent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 are clinically obese; however the government has no place trying to control this. (CDC, 2008) The current administration over steps its authority moving beyond the control of federally funded school lunches and into oversight of privately owned vending machines in public schools. Major corporations are being bullied into censoring their advertisement exposure to younger children so that the government won’t impose their own regulations. It is a parent’s responsibility and right to educate their children and control what they eat. The Federal government should not try to control what children eat by imposing regulations

Such practices are a concern, in part, due to the out-of-control statistics regarding obesity in America’s youth. Commercial vending machines in the hallways of public schools promote the consumption of junk food in youth. Often this consumption ends in tooth decay, hyperactivity and childhood obesity. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control,

The debate over genetically modified foods continues to haunt producers and consumers alike. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are foods that have been modified through bioengineering to possess certain characteristics. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or increased nutritional content (Whitman, 2000). The debate continues to grow as to whether these genetically altered foodstuffs are the answer to hunger in the coming years, or whether we are simply children playing with something that we do not have the capacity to understand. One of the biggest debates in the GMO issue is whether producers need to use labeling of

Many schools nowadays turn off their vending machines during the school day to prevent students from eating fattening foods. In California and Hawaii, state legislators are very close to passing a law that would ban any drinks excluding milk, water or juice from being sold in elementary schools, and reduce the hours older students can use the vending machines. Michelle Obama and the Obama Administration have asked Congress to improve children's nutrition by getting rid of school vending machines that provide students with sugary snacks and drinks. The problem with this is school’s are making an extravagant amount of money off feeding their students with artificial flavoring and

They say child obesity is not the fault of school lunches, school meals are only consumed once a day, meaning that the majority of meals are being eating at home and this makes what kids eat the responsibility of the parents (Metallo). They feel that because more meals are consumed at home, they effect on their weight is happening at home more than it is at school so it is the fault of the the child's parents for their unhealthy habits. Another reason why people think they should not need to ban junk food from schools is, schools that have began to get rid of vending machines have lost thousands of dollars and found, funding things like athletics and schools activities became increasingly hard to pay for (Rosenthal). In other words, vending machine revenues are often used for funding school activities, if they were to be taken out of schools they would cause schools to lose fundings because the contents of most vending machines are junk

Childhood obesity is the most common pediatric nutritional disorder in the United States (Balog, 2015). Most people believe that the solution to stopping childhood obesity relies entirely on education. Sadly, this is not true. While education is one of the main factors for solving this epidemic, there are many other factors that need to be resolved as well. One cannot rely on the simplistic idea that, once educated, Americans would make the healthiest choices. This is because Americans choose, buy, and consume their food based heavily on the taste, convenience, and economic motivations, not health reasons.

Many schools around the nation are feeding unhealthy food products to children, such as fries, sodas, sweets from vending machines. It is shown that, “an estimated 17% of children and adolescents ages 2-19 years are obese according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”

Recently, parents began to swap out sugary cereals for ones that claimed to “contain less sugar” and filled their pantries with snacks that had “less artificial additives” (Kellogg Company). What parents may not know is that some of these substitute foods, like Welch’s reduced sugar fruit snacks, and fat-free turkey, are not nutritious and actually contain more sodium than the daily requirement, are highly processed, loaded with even more sugars, fats, and chemicals like diacetyl than the original product. (Jacques). It is no secret that processed foods are harmful and unhealthy for us, nevertheless, processed products dominate natural food in America’s kitchens and cafeterias. Our country needs to see strict regulations for school lunches that are FDA

Sixty four countries around the world have banned the use of GMOs, otherwise known as Genetically Modified Organisms, within farms and supermarkets. However, the United States, a usually technologically advanced country, has yet to invest much time or effort into this endeavour, one that would make food healthier for people and protect the environment. The US government has taken a step back in this effort for healthier food options, as in the country, companies that use GMOs are not required to label their food as such. Some companies and businesses, however, are working to make a change in the case for GMOs in the US, by advocating minimized GMO usage, menu transparency, or the complete ban of the usage.

Recently, there has been a huge uprise in reports from all over the world of new diseases that have affected much of the population today. Diseases such as obesity, Alzheimer’s, Celiac Disease, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and so much more have been on the rise. Researchers have suspected the culprit of these diseases to be our food. Along with the diseases, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) has also been on the rise. The more poor food we eat, the greater the potential harm to our health. One of the poor foods we consume is GMO: the altering of genes in food to produce desirable effects. These effects can range from an improvement in nutritional value, texture, flavor, and a longer shelf life. These