The state Board of Education made it clear Wednesday that, when it comes to school meal policy, Georgia doesn’t like what Washington, D.C. is serving.
As expected, the board gave schools here exemptions from a federal law banning the sale of unhealthy foods during the school day.
By a vote of 9-1, the board passed a state rule allowing those foods — items high in fat, calories and sodium — to be sold in schools during as many 30 fundraisers per school year. Each of those fundraisers could last up to three days, meaning those items could be sold in Georgia schools for 90 days — half of the 180-day school calendar.
“We’re not going to Nanny State our way to a healthier lifestyle,” Georgia Superintendent John Barge said in recommending exemptions.
Federal ‘smart snacks’ legislation that went into effect July 1 banned the sale of unhealthy foods during the school day. The goal is to combat childhood obesity, which leads to other life-threatening health problems.
But the law allows states to provide exemptions for fundraising.
Board members, angered by what they described as another instance of federal overreach in public education, pried that crack wide open Wednesday. The exemptions now available in Georgia are more expansive than those in any other state, according to the nutritionists and health officials who have tracked the issue.
In fact, most states have not requested exemptions from the federal law, they say. That’s the stance nutritionists and health officials were urging the state board to take.
“If the lunchroom is selling an apple and school fundraisers are offering doughnuts, what do you think a child will gravitate to?” asked Karen Mathis, nutrition director for the Paulding County School District.
Mathis held up a green apple and a box of doughnuts as she spoke.
Some schools have come to rely on the sale of burgers, pizza and other unhealthy foods to bolster fundraising as districts are still coping with the lingering effects of The Great Recession and cuts in state funding.
Marsi Thrash, state government relations director for the American Heart Association, said the exemptions put “revenues above our children’s health.”
“We can do better than that,” said Thrash, whose group collected 1,400 signatures from Georgians who urged the board not to offer exemptions.
The issue did generate discussion among board members, with several saying they understood the need to provide healthier food to schoolchildren.
“I’m torn,” board member Kenneth Mason said. “I feel we have an opportunity here to make a statement.”
In the end, Mason was the only board member who voted against the exemptions.
Barbara Hampton summed up the board’s prevailing view. “I do think this is a federal overreach,” she said. “Georgians know what’s best for Georgians.”
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