A School District Just Banned Fast Food From Their Cafeterias — Parents Are Freaking Out

Parents of students attending school in Richmond, Missouri are in an uproar after the Richmond School District banned fast food from their cafeterias. According to local Fox News affiliate Fox4, Richmond’s Dear Elementary School posted about the fast food ban via Facebook on Thursday, August 16th. When classes were dismissed that afternoon, the fast food ban was all parents could talk about.

“At the end of the day, we want to be able to decide on our own,” Chris Swafford, a father of five Richmond School District students, told Fox4. “I thought it was overstepping at its finest. It’s up to parents what their children eat.”

Swafford added that, although he doesn’t deliver fast food lunches to his kids, he sees no difference between fast food meals and meals served by the school. He believes parents should have the option to deliver a fast food lunch to their child if they so desire.

In an statement released by the Richmond School District and shared by the Dear Elementary Facebook page on August 20th, Superintendent Mike Aytes walks parents through the new no-fast food policy.

“The main reason for implementing the policy is that delivery of fast food has become a disruption,” the statement reads. Aytes explains that parents delivering fast food to children at lunchtime often turns into a frenzy where staff must leave their posts to handle the chaos.

Aytes then stated that the second reason for instating the policy is that “schools have been made responsible by the parents and the legislature at the state and federal levels for teaching wellness and nutrition…Allowing fast food to be delivered to the school is antithetical to the messages of wellness and nutrition that the schools are teaching.”

And finally, Aytes noted that some families cannot afford fast food meals and therefore some children feel like “second-class citizens” when they see their friends receiving Happy Meals. “There are many things beyond our control that set students apart, but this one can be limited,” Aytes wrote.

Although some parents are still upset by the new policy, other parents are showing their support in the comments section of Dear Elementary’s post. One mother wrote, “Awesome 100% agree with this,” and another added, “Love it!”

>We understand both sides of the argument over the fast food ban and that makes it tough to say who’s right or wrong in this situation. What are your thoughts?

To learn more about what constitutes a healthy diet, you can visit Choose My Plate’s website. However, if you want to make any changes or get a better sense of how your individual body works best, consult your doctor.