Finally some good news about the government. The Dept. of Agriculture has banned the sale of junk food and drinks in school vending machines, effective Fall 2014 as directed by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Both aisles of Congress actually came to agreement on something.

Not sure why the yearlong delay, but starting next fall, kids will no longer be able to dodge now-healthier school lunches or their (hopefully) healthful brown bag lunches in favor of fake food from a machine. They will be able to select “whole wheat crackers, granola bars and dried fruits, instead of M&Ms, Cheese Nips and gummy bears.”

The topic is nothing new, but who ever said it was okay to feed this crap daily to growing kids? I have been astounded over the past 13 years as a parent at the sheer quantity of it pushed on my children at every turn. You literally cannot take them anywhere—the zoo, car wash, little league, hockey, soccer, sporting events, market, gas station, airport, parties, public pool, beach, restaurants, camps, just name it—without their being tempted with an endless array of healthless, fattening junk. Okay, maybe the local farmers’ market. But other than that, it feels like constant, full-on guerrilla warfare. [Read more…]