DesertFox
10-13-2006, 10:06 AM
Kim Breen
The Dallas Morning News
13 Oct 06
PLANO – Soda flows freely in the newly remodeled Plano Senior High School cafeteria. Big Grab chip bags are again up for grabs. The same goes for Skittles and plus-size pastries.
It's enough to make most junk-food-deprived Texas schoolchildren drool.
State rules cut portion sizes, fat and sugary snacks in schools to curb skyrocketing child obesity rates two years ago. Schools that violated those restrictions forked over $54,000 last year in lost funding and face higher penalties this year.
But a handful of wealthy school districts have rejected the rules altogether in some high schools, saying student choice and healthier cafeteria budgets outweigh efforts to force teenagers to eat right.
Allen, Frisco, Carroll, Coppell and, most recently, Plano are among the districts that give up government money for high school cafeterias for freedom from the food police.
They offer what they say older kids demand – the good and the bad – to make ends meet.
And in response, business is booming.
More (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101306dnmetschoolfood.331c208.html)
The Dallas Morning News
13 Oct 06
PLANO – Soda flows freely in the newly remodeled Plano Senior High School cafeteria. Big Grab chip bags are again up for grabs. The same goes for Skittles and plus-size pastries.
It's enough to make most junk-food-deprived Texas schoolchildren drool.
State rules cut portion sizes, fat and sugary snacks in schools to curb skyrocketing child obesity rates two years ago. Schools that violated those restrictions forked over $54,000 last year in lost funding and face higher penalties this year.
But a handful of wealthy school districts have rejected the rules altogether in some high schools, saying student choice and healthier cafeteria budgets outweigh efforts to force teenagers to eat right.
Allen, Frisco, Carroll, Coppell and, most recently, Plano are among the districts that give up government money for high school cafeterias for freedom from the food police.
They offer what they say older kids demand – the good and the bad – to make ends meet.
And in response, business is booming.
More (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101306dnmetschoolfood.331c208.html)