Junk-food junkies beware: State Sen. Martha Escutia is on a mission to rid California public schools of sodas, candy bars and other sweet snacks.
The lawmaker informed her colleagues last week that she is determined to push for legislation that would significantly restrict the types of foods and drinks sold in public schools--a move that sent the snack and soda industry into a frenzy.
Originally, Escutia (D-Whittier) wanted limits on fatty, sugary foods sold in elementary and middle schools by 2004. But after her so-called junk food bill, SB 19, appeared headed for the governmental trash bin, the senator agreed to water down her legislation.
On Tuesday, the Assembly Health Committee approved a version that would ban the sale of all junk food and sodas at elementary schools, while placing limits on the sale of carbonated drinks at middle schools. The bill is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday in the Assembly Education Committee.
"We continue to feel that the health of our young people is at risk because of the eating environment at our schools," Escutia said. "This might be a bill that takes a few years to get passed, but I'm very persistent. . . . I will remove junk foods from schools in the next four years."
It won't be easy. Escutia's list of opponents reads like a concessionaire's menu at a movie theater. Jelly Belly Candy, Hershey Foods, Pepsi-Cola, Ouaker Oats and others have lined up against the legislation. The chocolate industry hired a lobbyist to register a complaint against the bill, which would regulate foods sold in vending machines and snack bars and even in student bake sales.
Although Escutia anticipated that the snack food industry would fight the bill, she was dismayed to find that a number of school districts were also seeking its defeat. Some educators say the bill will cost their schools lucrative contracts with soda companies and candy distributors, which pay thousands of dollars each year for the right to sell their goods on campuses.
"It has nothing to do with health and it has everything to do with money," Escutia said.
According to estimates of a vending industry trade magazine, schools across the country generate more than $750 million in annual sales from snack and beverage machines. Recently, the Sweetwater Union High School District in Chula Vista signed an exclusive deal with Pepsi that is expected to bring at least $4.45 million to its 20 schools over the next 10 years--money that will help pay for library books, intramural sports and school-to-career programs.
