School snack machines could get a makeover

PROVO — Provo students who regularly toss a few quarters into cafeteria vending machines for some sweet snacks may soon notice that the Diet Coke and Skittles have been replaced with bottled water and string cheese.

Provo School District's Board of Education decided Tuesday night to form a committee that will be charged with developing a district nutrition policy. And one of their first orders of business will be to take a serious look at the goodies in school snack machines.

Members of the school board say that in time the committee could also be asked to examine physical activity and what students should be taught in class about how to stay healthy.

The faster a policy is put into place, the better, said Richard Sheffield, a member of the school board.

"We've got to think about what would be the impact on kids as far as learning," he said.

Board members were asked to watch the documentary "Supersize Me," a critique on the American diet, in preparation for Tuesday's meeting.

"When I saw the school lunchroom part, I freaked out," board member Darryl Alder said.

The federal government mandates that all schools have a nutrition policy by July 2006, and many districts are wrapping up their policies, said Linda Burrell, Provo's coordinator of child nutrition. Burrell will lead Provo's new committee.

Other Utah school districts are finishing their policies — and the Provo nutrition policy could imitate some of their ideas.

"I think we should really profit from their experience," said Carolyn Wright, a board member.

Last year, Wasatch School District became the first district in Utah to limit vending machine and classroom sweets.

The district, among other things, requires 70 percent of student vending machine fare — allowed only in the junior high and high school — to be water, milk, 100 percent fruit juices and foods meeting district minimum nutritional standards.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has classified certain foods as unhealthy — soda pop, Popsicles, gum and some candy.

Candy bars, interestingly, are not considered unhealthy because the chocolate has some nutrition, said board member Sandy Packard, who also will sit on the committee.

A nutrition policy in the Provo district could potentially affect refreshments at school functions, portion sizes and required nutrients in school lunches, Packard said.

With proper marketing, board members say, the nutrition policy will be accepted by teachers, parents and the 13,000 students who attend Provo schools.

Other members of the nutrition policy committee — representing the health profession, the student population or the PTA — will be selected by Superintendent Randy Merrill.

Merrill expects the policy will take about a year to complete.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com