Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act leaves kids hungry
August 19, 2015
Students may have trouble finding junk food and sugary snacks at North Cobb this year as the Obama administration has targeted the vending machines in its attempts to get the nation’s youth healthier.
“Rules come straight from the White House,” Jared Noblet, an Assistant Principal in the freshman academy, explains. North Cobb has put the new laws into effect just recently, such as The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. These mandated restrictions began at the beginning of last year only taking place after the expected time.
“This has been a law since last year. We have only just recently started to implement a timer to comply with new laws,” principal Bucky Horton said. The vending machines that are timed do not allow a student to purchase any of the foods marked with orange tape. Students now must wait until 3:30 if they want anything above the orange tape. Education struggles and the massive number of obesity reports helped influence this new restriction. Students view these restrictions as “terribly inconvenient,” according to senior Mimzi Kabibi.
This constraint applies to vending machines located in the Deal building, and the Freshman Academy. Freshmen now struggle to choose a mid day snack with the limited amount of choices: “It sucks, you can’t even get what you want,” freshman Tylah Eley said.
As the rise of awareness concerning the lack of choices in vending machines starts to gain attraction, students hope to one day enjoy their favorite snacks during school hours.