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Pop goes vending machine revenue

Whistler already well on the way to junk food-free schools

Some school districts are bracing for another reduction in revenue — this time the culprit is reduced sales from high school vending machines.

Come September, school vending machines must be junk-food free thanks to a new policy brought in by the provincial government.

Surrey’s Board of Education has been discussing the issue for some time said chair Reni Masi.

“The revenues will probably go down about 40 to 50 per cent, so it will be quite significant,” he said.

It’s not unusual for Surrey schools to make $30,000 a year from their vending machines so a drop of up to half will cut deeply into programs such as sports and music events which have traditionally benefited from the money.

Masi said students, many of whom have access to a car, would go to corner stores or fast food outlets if they can’t get their snacks of choice of schools.

While he supports the move to ban junk food he believes the board has a duty to monitor the impact.

“We are not really sure what the impact will be so we are going to measure it over the year,” said Masi of the 26 Surrey high schools.

“It is not a budget item per se but we are going to watch it closely and where we can help we will help. It is going to be an awkward year because we really don’t know what to budget for.”

Connie Denesiuk, recently elected president of the B.C. School Trustees Association, said the experience for every school in B.C. would likely be different as plans are put in place to see how to make up a shortfall.

“There has been some lead time on this so schools have had some time to plan and prepare for this, but there is no question that there will be some challenges that this will put forward.

“But when you weigh what the right thing is to do… and the right thing to do is to ensure that our students are provided with healthy choices when they are at school everyday.”

That idea was the driving force behind Whistler parent and Secondary School secretary Chris Shoup’s drive to get junk food out of the school five years ago. The school also runs a small parent-operated concession, which serves a healthy lunch each day.

“What are you showing your children otherwise?” said Shoup.

“You are telling them that they can go to school all day on coke and chocolate bars and shellac and #40, heck no.

“And when we started to give them the lunches a couple of the teachers came and said, ‘our afternoons have changed completely, because the kids are eating food.’”

But making the change was a challenge because suppliers had few healthy snacks to offer up vending machine operators, and adding milk products meant investing in costly refrigerated machines.

“No, we are pretty good but it took a lot of struggle to get there,” said Shoup.

“Just trying to find a healthy product — it’s still not great.”

Doug Downey of Whistler Vending Machines believes food suppliers are finally beginning to get the message though.

“The hardest part is finding snacks,” he said, adding that he bought the $6,000 milk vending machines purely in response to the school’s demands.

“A huge part of their market (snack producers) is the school and they don’t want to lose that segment, I’m sure, so once you put the demand on they will try and find a solution.”

But revenues are down, said Downey, both for his company and the schools. Part of that is fewer items being purchased from the machines, but the cost of some of the new snack items is also higher.

“Revenues are down overall, and that is lost revenue for the school,” said Downey.

Howe Sound school district began talking about this years ago said superintendent Dr. Rick Erickson.

For the most part high schools district wide have already phased out or are in the process of phasing out junk food in cafeterias and vending machines.

“The main discussion was around the pop sales and it was about what is the impact going to be,” said Erickson.

“But low and behold the impact has been that volume has stayed about the same.”

That’s because water sales have taken over from carbonated drink sales.

“Kids are perhaps more aware of the nutritional part than given credit for,” said Erickson.

“If it is true that we need some sort of refreshment in our hand it is seen as quite acceptable, indeed trendy, for it to be water.”

The new guidelines have also encouraged local hot lunch providers to make their choices more nutritional, with most pizzas served in school now coming on a whole-wheat crust.

“The neat thing is the regulations are actually driving the local vendors,” said Erickson.

Under the new policy vending machines can carry milk products, water and some juices. Food can include baked potato chips, pretzels, some granola bars and chocolate, as long as it is at least 70 per cent cocoa.

According to a 2004 House of Commons standing committee report 18 per cent of children and adolescents were overweight and eight per cent were obese.