Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for March 1, 2009 LET THEM EAT CAKE

We could dub the new legislation, NCLB...No Confection Left Behind!

Oregon teachers want a bite at forbidden junk food

By BRAD CAIN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SALEM, Ore. -- Some Oregon teachers want the Legislature to allow them to buy soda pop and unhealthy snack foods in their lounges -- food students are forbidden to purchase on school grounds.

The Oregon House gave its approval Thursday, sending the Senate a bill to exempt teachers from a state law limiting the sale of junk food in public schools.

The 2007 law was aimed at combatting childhood obesity by restricting the sale of soda, fruit juices and high-calorie or high-fat snack foods in schools. But it pulled the plug on junk food vending machines in teacher lounges, too.

As adults, teachers say, they should have the right to decide whether they want to gulp sugary sodas and munch snack foods.

"It unintentionally treats us as children," said Doreen Powers, a fourth-grade teacher from Hillsboro who is among those pushing for a change to the 2007 law.

Opponents of the legislation say teachers should set an example for students by avoiding unhealthy snacks -- even in the sanctity of the teachers lounge.

"If we pass this, we are setting up teachers for accusations of hypocrisy," said state Rep. Scott Bruun, a West Linn Republican.

A national health advocacy group says some states that ban such sales exempted teacher lounges from the start, but Oregon is the only state to consider backtracking.

That's ironic, given that Oregon's 2007 junk food law is considered one of the strongest in the nation to reverse the spread of obesity and ward off diseases like diabetes, said Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C.

"Quite frankly, I'm surprised to see Oregon trying to weaken that law," Wootan said. "It's not about treating teachers like kids. It's about teachers being role models and creating a healthy environment for kids."

She said about a third of states have some restrictions on junk food in the schools.

During Thursday's House debate, critics of the exemption bill noted that teachers and students are still permitted to bring junk food to school in their lunch boxes.

"There's nothing in the current law that prevents teachers from sneaking in Twinkies and M&M's in their lunches," said Rep. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer.

Teachers, however, call it an injustice that the law was written so broadly as to make it illegal to buy high-fat, high-sugar or otherwise high-calorie snacks anywhere on school property -- including teachers' break rooms.

Lake Oswego teacher Joel Glick said it's often not convenient for teachers to bring soda pop or other junk food snacks to school with them.

"Teachers work very hard and when on occasion we forget to pack a can of juice or soft drink in our lunch boxes, we really don't have time during our half-hour lunch break to drive back and forth to pick one up" at the store, Glick said.

Rep. Mitch Greenlick, sponsor of the bill, said the Legislature did not intend to limit what foods teachers can purchase during the school day.

"We hope adults make good decisions," the Portland Democrat said, but a ban junk food purchase by teachers "is not what we debated in 2007."

"It was about the food we offer to children," Greenlick said.