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I have a cousin who is excessively obese and knowing this his parents and his doctor have tried catching his attention by putting him in a rigorous diet.  He ignores them and he knows that is not healthy to eat so much junk food at school, yet he still chooses to do so because he says he is happy like that and would not change.   Knowing all of this and being taught how to take care of his body in elementary, middle school, and high school of what is healthy and what is unhealthy and how much of junk food you can really eat he chooses to keep buying from the vending machines.   The school tries its best to provide students with the accurate information about junk food to avoid obesity but it cannot do all the work to force students to not eat junk food. Middle and high schools should sell junk food in the cafeteria, in vending machines, and at athletic events on school property because in benefits the school financially no junk food should be eliminated from schools.

            Yes, many would argue that it is affecting the students and school is taking advantage and not thinking about the students’ health and increasing obesity.  I will strongly disagree with that statement because in every school there would be a healthy option to eat because there is so much diversity in the school and some students do eat these healthy food so why not others?  School does its job to teach and show students the right way to eat and have physical education to promote well exercise and helping your body be healthy not just by the food, but by the exercise.  People are well aware of this by others, family, and school and if they don’t change their eating habits when they are bad and they are aware of it no one can do anything because you cannot do all the work for them they also have to try.

One of the reasons junk food in vending machines should not be banned is because it helps the school financially. According to Gary Ruskin in his article The Fast Food Trap, the junk food being sold in the vending machines helps the school get some extra cash for anything the school needs including extracurricular activities.  Some schools depend a lot on vending machine companies to provide them the cash that they would not get anywhere else.  This provides the schools with money for small things for the school like new computers, extra equipment for any extracurricular activities.  It benefits both sides the vending machine companies for promoting their junk food and schools because they get a lot of money from the junk food they are selling which means that more students get help benefitting from these junk food companies. 

           

 Junk food companies may provide rewards or scholarships to students with good achievement.  In the article Corporate Sponsorships in Schools by Andrew F. Smith he talks about the support some of these junk food companies give to the students and to the school.  They help the school a lot because some of these junk food companies like Pizza Hut will provide educational programs for students something that maybe the school would not have money to afford and just because they are selling their food they can easily get that.  Having junk food will also benefit the students because they will offer them scholarships for their achievement.  Without the support of these junk food companies many students and schools will loose the programs that are necessary for them or get the scholarships they so much depend on.  These junk food companies give the people in the school a great opportunity and all they are being asked to is to sell their junk food so they can get advertised. 

Some students have abandoned school meal programs that tried to force healthy options. In the article School Cafeterias to Try Psychology in Lunch Line it stated that many students have abandoned school meal programs that tried to force healthy options because they do not like being told what they should eat or should not.  This affects the students and the school because students at middle school age and high school age students know or have and idea of what is healthy and unhealthy to eat and the school does its job by selling healthy food as well as junk food for those who prefer buy either or.  When the school tries to just sell healthy food and do not have variations on the type of food people like to eat students will stop buying any food from the school affecting both the school and students.  Students do not like to be told what to eat by their age they have a good idea of what they like or don’t like or if its good or not good for them. 

Middle and high schools should sell junk food in the cafeteria, in vending machines, and at athletic events on school property.  By selling the junk food it would give students rewards, give the school cash, and stop students from abandoning school meal programs.  If you want to help and decrease obesity because of vending machines inform yourself online about healthy habits and encourage others to do the same.  If you are one of those people that are really bothered by junk food in vending machines talk with the principle and figure something out that you would be happier with. 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Aduroja, Grace. “High Schools Cap Pop Sales:Naperville District Joins the Trend.” Chicago Tribune 9 Dec. 2004:  ProQuest Platinum. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

Harris, Gardiner. “A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools .” New York Times  7 Feb. 2010 ProQuest Platinum. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

Kaufman, Marc. “Fighting the Cola Wars in Schools .” Washington Post  23 Mar. 1999:  ProQuest Platinum. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

Ruskin, Gary. “The Fast Food Trap.” SIRS .  Nov.-Dec. 2003. Web. 5 Jan. 2011.

School Cafeterias to Try Psychology in Lunch Line. 13 Oct. 2010. Web. 5 Jan. 2011.

Smith, Andrew F. Corporate Sponsorships in Schools. ABC CLIO,  Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

Schools and Junk food (not banned)

Schools should sell junk food because some junk food companies like pizza hut motivate students to do their best so they can get rewarded with some of their junk food.  For junk food companies its better to advertise and sell their products at school because they give the school scholarships and educational programs.  If these companies were banned from the school from selling their junk food the schools would suffer a lot because these companies provide programs for many students and without these programs a lot of students can loose scholarships or educational programs that are neccesary for them.
Source: Corporate Sponsorships in Schools  ABC CLIO 

The junk food companies help schools get some cash that they probably would not be able to get without the help of these junk food companies.  Some schools need the extra cash for their programs and that is why they have to turn to selling vending machines full of junk food.  This help both the junk food company and the school with its programs its good for both sides.
Source:The Fast Food Trap SIRS

Some students do not like to be told what to eat even if the student is old enough to know what is good or bad for them.  According to the article "School Cafeterias to Try Psychology in Lunch Line" states that some students have abandoned school meal programs that tried to force healthy options.  This comes to show that junk food is neccesary for many reasons including the way students feel about them.  Truth is vending machines filled with junk food is important and neccesary for schools.
Source: School Cafeterias to Try Psychology in Lunch Line Proquest

 

Junk Food Article #4

SUMMARY:  This article talks about students at Naperville Community Unit School District 203 not allowed to have any soda from the vending machines during the school day.  The reason for just opening the vending machines after school is because they want to decrease obesity and improper eating from the students.  Instead of junk food in the vending machines District 203 is banning drinks with high fructose corn syrup and they are not being sold at elementary schools and middle schools.

OPINION:  I think that what elementary and middle schools are doing is good becaue they are shaping the way of eating junk food for these students so by the time that they get to highschool they would know how to eat properly.  I believe that what District 203 is doing is also good because if the students or parents students dont do anything to help the school has to do what is has to do to get the students in a good habit to eating so it can decrease obesity or other illness from eating too much sugar.

Book Talk

The Daughters of Juarez by Maria Theresa Rodriguez

The Daughters of Juarez is a non-fiction book that talks about the violence towards women occuring in the border between Mexico and the USA in the small city of Juarez.  Many women are tortured, raped, killed, then abandoned in a desserted area in Juarez by a serial killer.  The women killed have the similar characteristics, black long hair, full lips, ages ten to late twenties and all were last seen at their job that requires packaging. The issue about all these women killed is that they are not receiving any justice by the police of Juarez.  Everytime a girl in Juarez dissappered and then appear dead and tortured the police insists that those women were living a double life selling their bodies for profit or ran away with the boyfriend. Mothers of these women know that is not the case because they know their daughters well enough and many women are being killed maybe twice a week and the police still insists that they are all living a double life. 

People who are trying to help and actually solve the case and have justice for those who are dead are always bribed to put evidence in the cadavers that may blame someone or make the murder seem like an accident, if not willing to do so they are threatened to death and others end up with no family because some are being killed.  Those who are the alleged murders have nothing in common with the victim and the evidence shows that they were not the killers but still the police insists that they have the murderes in jail while there still others murders occuring on the outside.  When the bodies are found the police "accidently" contaminates the evidence and that is one of the reasons why forensics cant find the real murderer. Many conclusions have came from those who were trying to help but then threatened that the murderer is not one person but many and that the person protecting them comes from a high rank position that controlls the justice of Juarez. 

MY OPINION
This book was really interesting because I always wondered what happened or killed these women everytime I saw what was going on, on the news.  This book is scary but it opens your eyes on all the injustice that is occuring in Juarez and all the things that bad people are capable of doing.  I do recommend this book because it makes you understand and have a look of what is going on in the other countries other than the USA and how bad it is for people living there especially women having insecurities everytime they walk alone, thinking everyday if they are going  to be killed or not.

Junk Food Article #3

Summary: School principles in the District of Cloumbia are running out of money for extra programs their school offers so the only choice to get the money needed is for them to sign a contract with coca cola in order to get the money needed for things like prom, replacement books, etc.  Many people have opposed to it and others have favored it.  People who oppose it say this generation is drinking more soda than milk and it is a risk to their health causing them osteoporosis or obesity in their future.  They argue that by letting the vending machines in the schools would be a danger because the school is not teaching students about nutrition.  Those who favor it say that either or the students would buy soda from the corner store because the students cannot get it at the school.  They argue that it would benefit the school if they sell the soda because students wont buy it at the corner store but at the school and that it would only be offered at certain times during the day.

Opinion:  I believe that soda should be offered in the school because students should get the option and choice of what they eat.  It is the parents responsibility to teach students the way to eat healthy and have moderation. If they parents cant teach them about nutrition the school should take the money benefiting from the vending machines to have a fun non boring class about heatlhy eating and moderation.

Argument #6

6.  Claim:  The ingredients in candy bars are unhealthy and do not make it hard for students to concentrate and sit still during class.

Evidence:  One popular candy bar is made from water, corn syrup, butter, vanilla extract, peanut butter, salt, sugar, caramel, peanuts, and chocolate chips.

Warrant:  The ingrendient on candy bars are always going to be unhealthy or else they would be called healthy bars. The reason that candy bars are always going to be unhealthy is because they have so much sugar in everything that has been added and there is no real healthy ingredients put in them because they are put in large quantaties and there is no moderation.  Eventhough the ingredients in them are not healthy they do not make it hard for students to concentrate during class because for some it doesnt do anything because their body is so used to them or for others it makes them concentrate more because of all the sugar that a candy bar has because the sugar makes them be more attentive.