Free Blog #2
I spent a lot of time trying to figure
out what I wanted to write my free blog about. Being that I am going to school
for nursing, I always keep my eye out for articles in the news that have to do
with health or the medical field. When I
was in high school, I can remember that we had “brunch,” which was simply a
passing period between classes around 10:30 am, and also a time for the school
to sell food. They offered processed
food as well as food made in the cafeteria.
The food offered wasn’t healthy at all, and for this reason, I think
that changes need to be made. The
changes need to start at the home, but if the parents are not willing to
enforce the changes at home, maybe it would be wise for the government to step
in and make changes? “In order to
prevent and reduce the number of children who experience childhood obesity, the
government is trying to set nutritional standards for vending machines in
addition to the cafeteria standards they have already set” (Nixon, 2012). Because so many children are not bringing
food from home and are eating food from vending machines, the Obama
administration is concerned that “school vending machines stocked with potato
chips, cookies, and sugary soft drinks contribute to childhood obesity, which
has more than tripled in the past 30 years” (Nixon, 2012). From what I’ve learned in class in relation
to this article, “conservatives would prefer that free markets regulate the
economy, not the government” (Newell, p. 104).
The conservatives would like the parents to regulate the issues of the
cafeteria and the vending machines, and the government to stay out of the
entire matter. The liberals, on the
other hand, have an entirely different opinion on the matter at hand. They “put faith in the ability of government
to direct economic activity. Liberals
also suggest government activity as the solution to market failure” (Newell, p.
104). On this matter, I stand somewhere
in the middle. “What we have is a
fragmented system where some schools do a good job of limiting access to junk
food and others don’t” (Nixon, 2010). This
comment is entirely true, and what is needed is a consistent system so we don’t
have schools and children that fall through the cracks and are consistently
being feed junk food all the time. In my
opinion, I think that if the parents and administrators of the school are not
taking care of the problems with the unhealthy eating, then something needs to
be done, and the government might need to step in and do something. Hopefully in the future we can see a
combination of parents influencing their children to eat healthier, which will
require less government influence, but if necessary, government might have to
step in and do their part.
Bibliography
Newell, Prindle, Riddlesperger. Texas Politics, 11th edition. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. 2011
Nixon,
Ron. "New Guidelines Planned on School Vending Machines." New York
Times [New York] 12 02 2012, 12022012 n. pag. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/us/politics
