Corey Pierce

By now, most Calgarians have heard about and applauded the Edmonton public school board’s unanimous vote to impose a ban on junk food in its schools. Over the holidays, the news brought a quick rejoinder from the Calgary Board of Education (CBE), renewing its vow to make the health and well-being of its students a priority.

Although it seems like a no-brainer, the CBE didn’t follow suit when it amended its own nutrition regulations in December, opting instead for an 80/20 approach. It’s a common and realistic way to balance a healthy diet, but one typically applied to one’s life as a whole, including time spent outside of school. If I were taking an 80/20 approach to nutrition, most of that 20 per cent would come into play during the evenings and weekends.

“The [regulation] aims to empower students through choice and responsibility,” reads the press release. “We believe 80/20 is a reasonable approach as it allows flexibility. Bans are very hard to enforce and require schools to move away from their roles as educators and begin policing the regulations and students.” The release also lets us know the “new” nutrition Administrative Regulation 3047 is effective immediately, January 1, 2008. With this news, Calgarians heaved a collective sigh of relief that something was done, and we got back to our busy lives.

Wait. Selling healthier foods instead of junk food will require schools to move away from their educational roles to begin policing students? Come on. It isn’t a question of making junk food contraband — kids can still bring what they want from home or buy it elsewhere — it’s just a question of whether or not the school should be providing it to them. Internally, a staff memo raises concerns that a ban on junk food will encourage subversive behaviour in students. “They’ll get it down the street anyway” is a common argument, but totally misses the point. If that’s the reason, why not provide cigarettes on site as well?

In reality, no notable changes were made when the regulation was amended in December, and not much is happening right now. The CBE did warn that students won’t see changes right away, that it takes time to bring about change. But three years? Although the regulation is “effective immediately,” it gives schools until January 2011 before they “should meet the minimal nutritional requirements,” after which they have another year-and-a-half grace period before the review date, set for November 2012. Three years represents a large chunk of a child’s development, both physically and academically.

The CBE’s reason for not implementing its plan earlier is “to allow schools to seek creative ways to change food-based fundraising initiatives, food-based rewards and motivators, parent council food fun days as well as what is offered for sale in cafeterias and vending [machines]. The CBE is not simply aiming to offer better food; we are seeking to educate the value of healthy eating while challenging students, staff and parents to rethink the philosophy and culture of food in our schools.”

It’s true — schools are in a position to positively influence students in many ways that will contribute to their proper growth and development. Kids learn not only what is covered in classrooms and do so largely by example. What message does it send when they are taught the importance of a healthy diet, then walk out the door to find vending machines full of Pop-Tarts strategically placed by the very institution that tells them not to make such unhealthy choices?

Some schools are making more of an effort than others. It’s up to each individual institution to come up with its own rules and methods of implementing this regulation, and the CBE is there for support. However, a closer look shows that regulation-wise, big changes aren’t necessarily required anyway. For anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to look at the new regulation, this is how it goes:

All foods (with the notable exception of pizza, which is sold at most school cafeterias) are divided into three categories: “serve most often,” “serve sometimes” and “serve least often.” The first two are considered “higher nutrient-dense foods,” defined as “foods that provide substantial amounts of vitamins and minerals with relatively fewer calories.” These are the foods that can, or should, be served 80 per cent of the time, if not daily, then in school cafeterias and vending machines: “…effective January 1, 2011, 80 per cent or more of the foods offered for sale in the CBE should come from the ‘serve most often’ or ‘serve sometimes’ categories, and 20 per cent or less may be low nutrient-dense foods.” What’s the point of dividing foods into the first two categories if they get lumped back together anyway?

The 80/20 ratio seems like a realistic goal — it’s not all or nothing, right? Even grownups are guilty of downing more than the occasional bag of chips or Big Mac. Here are some foods that fall into the higher nutrient category: croissants, biscuits, scones, bagels, ice cream, milkshakes, wedge-cut fries, hot dogs, sausages, beef (in general — presumably burgers would then fall into this “should be served daily” category), full-fat sour cream, processed cheese slices, pudding, meat pies, canned luncheon meat, breaded fish sticks and chicken fingers. By these standards, eating nutrient-dense foods most of the time should be easy. There is no mention of preferred cooking methods, so there’s no reason for schools not to continue to deep-fry chicken fingers and fries, still falling safely within the acceptable guidelines.

It’s difficult to navigate the constantly changing torrent of nutritional information we receive every day, but we do know the basics of what makes food healthy and what doesn’t. At the very least, most would assume that a new nutrition regulation might help to rid schools of things like fries, burgers, hot dogs and milkshakes, rather than give permission for them. For more information, visit www.cbe.ab.ca/Trustees/meetings_proto.asp#public.

Julie Van Rosendaal is a food journalist and cookbook author, food and nutrition columnist for the Calgary Eyeopener on CBC Radio and co-host (with Ned Bell) of It's Just Food on Access and Canadian Learning Television.