What Is "Parents Against Junk Food"?

Parents Against Junk Food is a nonprofit organization with a simple mission:

Stop the Sale of Junk Food in America's Schools

We are devoted to eliminating junk food from our public school system. No sodas. No candy bars. No chips. No processed lunch or foods of minimal nutritional value. Let’s ask our public schools to feed both body and mind properly, to take seriously their role as guardians of our children’s health and welfare. It is time to take the corporate profit out of school lunches and replace it with common sense, good nutrition, and the love and care that our children surely deserve.

Christopher Kimball
Founder & Editor, America’s Test Kitchen

Click here to read Christopher Kimball’s editorial in the Boston Globe

What Is the 'National School Lunch Program'?

• The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in more than 99,800 public and nonprofit private schools and residential child-care institutions.  
• It provides low-cost or free lunches to more than 29 million children each school day.
• For all meals served, 49% are provided free, 10% at a reduced price.
• The Food and Nutrition Service administers the program at the federal level. At the state level, the NSLP is usually administered by state education agencies, which operate the program through agreements with school food authorities.   
• School districts and independent schools that choose to take part in the program get cash subsidies and donated commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for each meal served. In return, they must serve lunches that meet federal requirements, and they must offer free or reduced-price lunches to eligible children.
• School lunches must meet the following recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans:

• No more than 30% of an individual's calories come from fat, and less than 10% from saturated fat.
• School lunches to provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories.   
• School lunches must meet federal nutrition requirements, but decisions about what specific foods to serve and how they are prepared are made by local school food authorities.
• Read the National School Lunch Program Fact Sheet.

What’s Wrong with the NSLP?

• Since the program began, more than 187 billion lunches have been served. The NSLP is a valuable resource for schools all over the country, but national standards do not exist for the use or marketing of competitive foods and beverages in school settings or after-school venues.
• As a result, the sale of junk food and soda is not prohibited in America’s schools.
• A General Accountability Office report found that fat accounted for 34% of the calories in lunches served in the NSLP during 1998-1999, exceeding the USDA mandate.
• In 2003-2004, an estimated 30% of high schools generating most of the revenue from competitive foods raised more than $125,000 per school.

What Are 'Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value'?

"Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value" (FMNV) is a fancy term for junk food. According to the USDA, FMNV are defined as artificially sweetened foods and foods that provide less than than 5% of the Reference Daily Intake for each of the eight specified nutrients (protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, calcium, and iron).

"The USDA’s current nutrition standards result in arbitrary limits on the sale of foods in school cafeterias." —Center for Science in the Public Interest

Allowed	Not Allowed
Fruitades (with little juice) French fries Ice cream Candy bars Cookies Chips Snack cakes Doughnuts	Seltzer water Caramel corn Popsicles (without fruit/fruit juice) Jelly beans Chewing gum Lollipops Cotton candy Breath mints

 

Is It Legal to Serve FMNV in Schools?

The USDA does not allow the sale of the foods listed under "Not Allowed" above, but it does allow each state to establish its own regulations. As a result, junk food can be sold in schools unless the state prohibits it.

"The sale of other competitive foods may, at the discretion of the State agency and school food authority, be allowed inthe food service area during the lunch period only if all income from the sale of such foods accrues to the benefit of the nonprofit school food service or the school or student organizations approved by the school. State agencies and school food authorities may impose additional restrictions on the sale of and income from all foods sold at any time throughout schools participating in the Program." —The National School Lunch Program

You can learn about your state's legislation here.

Soda Is Junk Food, Too

"The American Beverage Association [ABA] believes that parents must decide what children eat and drink at home and at school, and no government should deny parents that right. Parents, principals, teachers and school administrators can make the best decisions for their schools. Students should have a choice of bottled water, juice, sports drinks and other beverages, but that choice should be decided by parents and schools, not the government." —The American Beverage Association

Parents Against Junk Food agrees—sort of. The American Beverage Association represents the beverage industry, so a federal ban on the sale of sodas and other high-calorie drinks in schools would hurt the ABA and its clients. According to John Alm, former CEO of Coca-Cola, “The school system is where you build brand loyalty.”

To read all about the ABA school vending policy, click here.

The Wellness Policy

On June 30, 2004, President Bush signed the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. It requires each local education agency or school district participating in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program to develop a local wellness policy that promotes the health of students and addresses the growing problem of childhood obesity. The wellness policy is to be established by school year 2006.

As required by law, a local wellness policy, at a minimum, shall include:

• Nutrition education
• Physical activity
• Guidelines for all foods and beverages on school campuses
• Other school-based activities that promote student wellness

According to the law, the policy, "Involves parents, students, and representatives of the school food authority, the school board, school administrators, and the public in the development of the school wellness policy."

To learn more about the wellness policy, click here.