Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act leaves kids hungry
One of North Cobb’s most popular snacks, Hot Cheetos, have been temporarily restricted. As of today, all snacks considered unhealthy will not be sold during school hours.
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.
With a new year comes new changes. Slabs of orange tape are plastered over every vending machine stating, “Items only available after school.” Though several students are completely oblivious to the change, the few students that were interviewed gave reporters an earful.
“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.
Senior Nimzy Kabibi jams her finger into the button for the third time struggling to get her bag of Skittles. When reporter Chloe Roberson asks her about the change she states, “terribly inconvenient.”
“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.
Freshman Tylan Eley struggles to decide between trail mix and popcorn. With the new restrictions on school vending machines, students choice of snacks are extremely limited. Tylan complained about the limited options.
