Category: Political

Hey everybody, look who's back! It's me, Jackington! Clearly you guys don't like Remington. Or maybe you just don't like the content of his posts. Either way, traffic has been down. Worry not, I'm not going anywhere. Remington will be posting more often. I'm going to be covering the political stuff and Remington will be covering most everything else. That's not to say those roles can't reverse every once in a while. My point is, get used to Remington and be nice to him. Also, for those who care, I'm now a conservative again. No more of that liberal hippie crap for me. The tie-dyed shirts were giving me a headache and the tin foil hat did absolutely nothing to relieve the pain. Now, let's move on to today's topic.

Everybody's favorite governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has signed a new bill that will require California schools to serve healthier food. Here are the details:

SCHWARZENEGGER SIGNS NEW LAWS ON SODAS AND VENDING MACHINES

By Tom Chorneau

Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - The food served in California schools will be the healthiest in the nation beginning next summer under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The new laws impose a campus ban on the sale of sodas, set a new nutritional standard for vending-machine snacks and require more fruits and vegetables in meal planning. The former bodybuilding champion and fitness expert said the rules are all part of an new effort to fight childhood obesity.

"California is facing an obesity epidemic. Over the past decade, Californians have gained 360 million pounds," Schwarzenegger said at a conference on childhood obesity. "And more and more, children are becoming part of the problem."

Officials said that obesity threatens to surpass tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death in California. It causes more than $20 billion in health-related costs each year.

Lawmakers made California the first state in the nation to ban the sale of soft drinks in middle and elementary schools two years ago. One of the bills signed by the governor Thursday, SB 965 by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Montebello, will expand that ban to include high schools.

Beginning in July, students will be only allowed to buy water, milk and some fruit and sport drinks that have limited sweeteners.

The governor also signed another Escutia bill, SB 12, that will require foods sold in school vending machines to meet high nutritional standards and regulate the number of calories that can come from fat and sugar. It also takes effect in July.

SB 281, from Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-San Luis Obispo, also provides $18.2 million during this fiscal year to offer more fruits and vegetables in school meal programs.

The combination of bills signed by Schwarzenegger set a new standard nationally for healthy school foods, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"The money from soda contracts comes out of children's and parents' pockets. Coke, Pepsi, and other junk-food marketers enjoy being in schools because they know it is one of the only places they can target kids without parental interference," said Margo Wootan, the center's nutritional policy director said in a statement.

"But in California, parents have clearly had enough, and leaders of both parties took notice," she said.

Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association, called the ban on sodas "unnecessary" and said that students and parents would have been better served by a voluntary program.

"We believe this complex problem would be more effectively addressed by educating students on the importance of living a balanced lifestyle," Neely said in a statement. "Not by imposing unnecessary restrictions mandated by SB 965."

The bill signing ceremony kicked off a first-of-its-kind summit on child obesity in California. Professional bike champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong joined the governor and first lady at the morning session.

Now you're wondering: which way will Jackington go? Is he against this bill because it limits the freedoms of school children, or is he for the bill because it will help reduce the number of fat people? Place your bets.

Okay, ready for it? I'm for this bill! First off, school children don't have the right to choose what they eat. They will eat what their parents and school officials tell them to eat. Back in my day, we didn't have vending machines filled with Twinkies and potato chips and sody-pop. We had greasy pizza squares and dry hamburgers and mystery meat and we liked it (okay, maybe not, but we ate it). We got to drink milk. Only milk! And the kids were still fat. Because greasy pizza is not healthy for you. But greasy pizza and milk is sure better for you than soda and a bag of chips. But Arnold here is going to make it all better. The kids are going to eat fruit and drink fruit and maybe some vegetables, too.

Now, let's be realistic. This will not solve the obesity problem. It will help a little bit, sure, but the real problem is at home. What's to stop little Johnny from going home and eating six bowls of Cookie Crisp cereal? Nothing! That's what I did, and I used to be fat! The parents are to blame for their fat children, not the schools. There is, however, no sense in having the schools add to the problem, which is why I support this bill. At the very least it will help some of those kids get some fruits and vegetables in their diet, which they certainly are not getting at home.