Healthy Vending Comes to the Buffalo Public Schools
As a parent of 2 kids, ages 7 and 12, I've always felt that I
owed it to my girls to teach them about the importance of exercise and proper
nutrition. That's not to say they don't partake in the occasional indulgence
like a trip to the ice cream store or popcorn at the movies, but we try to
maintain a balance.
My interest in wellness segued to the school level when my oldest
daughter began attending a public school. After a few years the school had
outgrown the building with its tiny urban grounds where the kids regularly
played "catch the hobo". The new space was much larger and it had a huge plot
of undeveloped land. I saw it as a perfect opportunity to build a playground,
and so within a year the project was complete.
A couple years later, I saw an article about the Baltimore
Public Schools and how they were transitioning their food system to bring more
farm fresh, healthy options to their students. I knew that Buffalo students,
similar to kids across the nation, had complaints about processed school lunches
and I thought the Baltimore example was a great one to bring positive change to
school dining. When my daughter entered a Buffalo Public School I committed
myself to advocacy work surrounding healthy changes to nutrition as well as physical
health and mental well-being. I now
serve as a committee member on our District's Wellness Council, I am co-chair
of the District's nutrition committee, and I am a member of the wellness
team at my daughter's school.
I am currently engaged in launching programs that support
our school district's wellness policy, and one of those projects is school
vending. The Buffalo Public Schools have launched a pilot
program in 2 city schools to introduce healthy vending options to students.
Machines are filled with waters, unsweetened teas, dried fruits, nuts, Kind
Bars, and other 100% whole grain snacks.
The program has been a huge success and not only does it
provide kids with a healthy snack choice, it has also created a stream of
revenue to replace what was lost when the district cancelled its contract with
Coke products. These funds will be used to support wellness team initiatives,
prom, yearbook, and a variety of other school clubs.
Even more exciting is the innovative educational component
that has been proposed to support and grow the program. Participating schools
will appoint groups to run the vending machines like a small business.
They will create business plans, manage bookkeeping, order, stock, and market
the products in an effort to help them build entrepreneurial business skills.
The district believes this program will afford them a fantastic opportunity to
lead by example as they continue to focus on wellness initiatives that support
their nationally mandated wellness policy. They expect the program to be rolled
out District wide by September 2015. Our next step is to reach out to
community and business partners to sponsor or adopt this program.
I hope this inspires you to work towards making healthy
changes in your child's school!
Adrienne Romanowicz
