Banning Junk Food in Schools

by Nick Coons
Apr 13, 2005

A bill is moving through the Arizona

Arizona	(air-i'-ZON-u')
The State of Arizona comprises the extreme south-western portion of the United States. It is bounded on the north by Utah, on the east by New Mexico, on the south by Mexico, and on the west by California and Nevada.

congress that is set to ban junk foods in elementary and middle schools throughout the state. These include things like sugary or fatty snacks, candy, and soft drinks. Supporters say this bill will help promote good nutrition, as such foods will likely be replaced with alternatives. Critics call this an invasion by the state onto the local schools districts.

Being a Libertarian, this is a difficult one. Since the idea of government-provided schools already goes against my principles, how could principles possibly be applied here? It'd be like sticking a 2x4 next to the Leaning Tower of Pisa to try and prevent it from falling over.

From the point of view of the relationship of the state and the school districts, I think this is something that the state should stay out of. From the point of view of the school districts and the students (or the students' parents), the districts should continue to offer whatever they offer now, and if this isn't want students or parents want, the access to junk food will be naturally removed because it won't be economical to maintain access. If no one is buying this stuff, why would they keep selling it? If it's selling like crazy, why would they stop selling it?

Of course there's the concern of obesity and all sorts of other issues when eating junk food. Well guess what? It's not up to the school districts or the state to try to prevent or fix this. It is up to each individual person. The average person, even the average teenager, knows that junk food is call junk food for a reason. If you're a parent and don't want you children eating this, explain to them why they would not want to eat it daily, or at all. If that doesn't work, fill them so full of fruit before they leave for school that they can't possibly be hungry enough during the day to fill up on junk food.