What's wrong with fundraising food sales at school?

The SFUSD Wellness Policy does not allow fundraising food sales on campus during the school day. This is a brief overview explaining why. For complete information, go to the website of the SFUSD Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee.

Here’s a summary of the rule, which has been in effect since the 2003-04 school year:

At all schools, K-12, teachers, staff, parents, and students may not sell any food or beverage at all during the school day. This includes bake sales, student stores, and classroom food sales. The only exceptions are for the four days per year when high school students are allowed to sell food, or through approved profit sharing arrangement with Student Nutrition Services (see www.sfusdfood.org for details)

Here are the reasons:

First, the SFUSD Wellness Policy’s “No Empty Calories” focus limits foods sold on campus during the day to approved nutritious items. That is because of our national obesity epidemic, which is devastating the health of today’s generation of youth, and a commitment to putting young people’s health ahead of money. State laws that take effect July 1, 2007, also put strict limits on junk food sales.

But even if only healthy foods are sold, there’s another important reason. The federally subsidized National School Lunch Program provides the "lunch-line" menus at all schools, offering free or reduced-priced lunch to low-income students. Other students pay full (though reasonable) price for those meals, or choose a la carte options from the Beanery. If more students buy those lunches, the income allows the quality of the cuisine to be improved for all students.

"Competitive food" sales at lunchtime drain money from the lunch-line and Beanery operations, which then reduces the quality of those meals and drives more students to the competitive operations in a downward spiral. When the lunch-line menus drop in quality because kids choose competitive foods instead, those who suffer are the most vulnerable kids – the younger children (since elementary schools don't have competitive sales) and the lowest-income kids, who can't afford the other foods being sold.

So, more kids eating the school lunches mean the school lunches get better. More kids eating the school lunches also enables more cafeteria staff to be hired, speeding up the lines.

Here are some facts about young people’s health:

• Studies and anecdotal reports link better nutrition to improved achievement and behavior in school.
• Childhood obesity has tripled since 1970.
• Rates of asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and other disorders in children and teens have skyrocketed correspondingly.
• Health professionals expect the current generation of young people to be the first in modern history to live shorter life spans than their parents' generation, entirely due to obesity and related maladies.
• Obesity and related health crises are far more severe among African-American, Latino and economically disadvantaged children and teens.

SFUSD Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee
January 2007

The photo, taken Jan. 17, 2007, shows the Galileo High School student store selling junk food at lunch, in violation of the SFUSD Wellness Policy.