Banning Food Fair is Anything but Fair

JENNIFER PIERCE
Copy Editor

Crowds. Noise. Break. Food. Sounds like a typical lunch break at Alhambra High School. There’s just one thing forever to be absent: Food Fair.
Due to health regulations imposed by the state, Food Fair and its equivalents in other schools in the district have been banned during school hours. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Food items sold at Food Fair usually consisted of junk food or fast food. Both are already commonly deemed by health activists (and parents) as detrimental to health.
In a way, they’re totally right. Your average In-N-Out hamburger with onions has 390 calories with 170 of those from fat. Costco pepperoni pizza has a whopping 804 calories per slice, 58 percent of that being fat. Need something to wash all that down with? Try Coca-Cola, an average can containing 100 calories with nearly 10 percent of that from sugars. Or milk tea boba: 207 calories with 3 grams of fat. Both contain added sweeteners and sugars. Why else would we drink them?
Unfortunately for the clubs and organizations that depended on Food Fair for revenue, all of those items are against the state-mandated regulations for food and beverages sold on campus.
Under the section entitled “Middle/High School—Food Restrictions,” “snack” foods must be less than or equal to 35 percent from fat and less than or equal to 250 calories per item or container/serving. “Entrée” foods, or meals, must be less than or equal to 400 calories and less than or equal to four grams per 100 calories. These “entrées” must also contain two or more food groups, like meat, vegetables and carbohydrates, or just meat/meat alternate (hopefully, they mean tofu meat). For beverages, the main restriction, other than it must contain greater than or equal to 50 percent real juice, is that there can be no added sweeteners, even for water. Under prohibited items, carbonated beverages and many types of candy, excluding chocolate, are listed.
And if you’re wondering if this only applies to what the school sells or serves if you have free lunch, it doesn’t. There is a clear section that is labeled “Student Organizations” which basically states that they must also comply with these rules if they sell anything during school hours. One bullet point reads that only ONE student organization may sell per day. So, really, if the food wasn’t bad, our method of selling it was also a problem.
Before we get angry and rebel, take a minute to think. Clearly, the state only has our best interests in mind, especially in a country with the highest obesity rate. All of the restrictions and regulations are made to keep our bodies from having too much fats and sugars, which is basically what Food Fair sells. The only downside is that many clubs are out of a major source of revenue.
Forcing the clubs to sell food in line with the state regulations may be too much of a stretch, especially if we expect to sell any of it. But there are alternatives.
The most obvious is to sell after school which, according to the regulations, is 30 minutes after school ends. Many students wait until after school to eat anyway. With a plethora of restaurants and food places on Main Street, it seems much more preferable to eating school lunch. The only problem with this option is that most people are eager to leave as soon as possible.
Another option would be to sell non-food items, such as pens and keychains. As long as it wasn’t for your own personal benefit and didn’t go against someone’s copyright, it seems like a viable option.
As teenagers, we tend to complain a lot, and this seems like a perfect opportunity to do so. But if we really look at the situation, this was really inevitable. So, stay calm and move on.