And they thought it was a good idea to fine the school what could be almost 1/2 of a first-year teacher's salary, or a part-time teacher's aid... I wonder how much we're paying the a-hole that found the violation?

Institutional cafeteria food generally sucks. The more the government is involved, the worse it gets.

But this is just dumb.

"School lunch is served for 47 minutes each day, and federal law clearly states no soda can be sold during that time. "

I'm off to go see which part of the Constitution authorizes the federal government to make laws about what times of day soda can be sold... Ah, it's right here in the Good and Welfare Clause: "Congress shall be authorized to take any action deemed necessary by the Washington elite to restrain the yahoos in the provinces, for their own Good and Welfare."

Um...who gave feds jurisdiction over this? If the principal had any balls, he would tell the feds to stuff it where the sun don't shine.

The school wasn't fined. The taxpayers were. Like the Federal govenment, the schools do not have money that does not come from taxpayers.

You know, I actually grew up in Utah. In high school, I bought Suzy-Qs and chocolate milk for lunch almost every day. Yum. Sometimes they would be out of Suzy-Qs so I'd eat those Hostess Donuts with the plasticky chocolate on the outside.

I also had a BMI of 20. I wish I had that now, and I eat a heck of a lot healthier than I did in high school. (Dinner 3 nights a week was Burger King where I had a part time job.)

Obesity is not happening because of soda for lunch.

Here's a crazy hypothesis: Is the economy/society as a whole so rich that this waste is a natural outcome?

In "The End of Work," the economist Jeremy Rifkin predicted that both the private and public workforce would shrink as employees became more prodcutive, and that the volunteer workforce would grow. Maybe he was partially correct.

The US Federal government is bigger and more expensive than ever. Maybe this is because the US economy can "afford" it. Instead of increased productivity from government employees with a shrinking public workforce and an increase in volunteerism, there's a growing public workforce in do-nothing jobs like the TSA?

I dunno; it's half an idea.

I ate a sunny delite and a snickers every lunch in high school. I had a BMI of 18 (and I'm 5'10"). Sometimes it was a huge homemade chocolate chip cookie from the foodservice kids instead, if they were selling them.

But hey-I'm so gad the government can now tell me my kids can't eat that. Stupid me.

I'm shocked no licorice! I guess their bribe, I mean campaign contribution bounced.

All thst this 'healthy food' in school regulations was, a gov't shake down. Bribe us enough or your food will be declared unhealthy, double the bribe and we will declare your main competitors food illegal. Well will have to stop off some things so it looks like we are doing something. Sorry soda, you are the fall guy this time, but it's only for 47 minutes a day.

One unintended consequence; kids don't get what they want in the school cafeteria so leave the campus and get hit by a car. Brilliant!

Or they don't eat at all. That's healthy.

Mars must have better lobbyists than whoever makes twizzlers.

Well, the Feds HAVE to look as if they're doing something about obesity. You know, because of all the taxpayers wringing they're ham-like fists and moaning, "We're so fat! Why doesn't the GOVERNMENT do something about it???"

I can't say anything on this matter that hasn't been said already, so I will just say that it is over the top absurd. Things like this make me wonder if we are too far gone to come back.

Sosij, you nailed it. Everything, including our own bad decisions, is the government's fault. God forbid we should make healthier choices, involving restraint and whole foods as opposed to foods that have been processed beyond all nutrition.

You can't sell licorice, but you can sell ice cream? A Snickers bar is nutritious?

If I was the type to bang my head on the wall in frustration, I'd be doing it now.

Snickers is a lot closer to many of the "health" bars than you'd think. It's that peanut thing. Nobody seems to have a substitute for chocolate and peanut.

Not to mention that the so-called experts in the government have no idea what causes obesity anyway.