NYT: Lines Are Drawn for Big Suit Over Sodas

It is lunchtime at Grover Cleveland High School in Portland, Ore. A steady stream of thirsty teenagers poke dollars into the three Coca-Cola machines in the hallway. By the end of lunch period, the Coke With Lime, Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke are sold out.

At Cleveland High School in Portland, Ore. A study found Oregon school districts got $12 to $24 per student a year from drink sales.

That, says Stephen Gardner, staff lawyer for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is exactly the problem. In an age of soaring obesity rates among children, he argues that soda and other sugary beverages are harmful to students' health and that selling those drinks in schools sends a message that their regular consumption is perfectly fine.

In a lawsuit they plan to file in the next few months, Mr. Gardner and half a dozen other lawyers, several of them veterans of successful tobacco litigation, will seek to ban sales of sugary beverages in schools.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/07/business/07soda.html

But there were milk machines and a machine where you could buy old inedible bitter apples. There was no hot lunch program, and we all had to brown bag it. No soda pop machines that I recall, but then I graduated in '68.

as Tobacco companies for making their products very addictive and making
children the target of aggressive marketing campaigns. The case should be interesting.

does not have a soda machine, however, they do have an exclusive contract with Coke. When he was in 2nd grade his teacher (also an executive rep for the teachers union) explained the contract to me. Apparently whenever there is a school function where beverages are to be served (pizza parties for classes etc) the school (if they are paying) has to serve Coke products. This issue does go deeper into the pockets of the school system than just machines in the school.

:hi:

My schools had a cafeteria and drinking fountains. That was it. I ate breakfast at home, lunch at school, and would stop at a drinking fountain when walking between classes. Food was so NOT a part of life at school.

I've read DU almost everyday for 4 years. My husband told me I should start posting (instead of bitching to him I quess:crazy:) I wish the water fountains in my son's school would work. Half the time there's only one or two working. His school has a grand total of 4 water fountains for a school that has almost 500 students, two levels, and 3 portables.

They want the kids to be a captive audience for their products. The younger they get them the easier it is to influence and shape their brenad preferences.