Junk Food in the Classroom: Should Teachers Get Involved?

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, March/April 2017 Issue

By Martha Beach

A Grade 2 student shows up to school with dried cereal for lunch. She seems a bit lethargic, though she gobbles the cereal up. She is otherwise happy and doing well academically and socially. But she only brings dried cereal for lunch every single day. What should a teacher do in this situation?

This is what Camelia Marks faced in her Grade 2 French-immersion class in a lower-income neighbourhood in Toronto. “I didn’t know what the situation was,” Marks says. So she called the student’s dad, told him what she had noticed, and expressed concern.

“Turns out [the student] was a really picky eater and wouldn’t touch anything except dry cereal,” Marks explains. It was either she eats dry cereal at school, or nothing at all. “One day, another kid took out nine cookies! I said, ‘Just have two. Pack the rest up.’ And I called his parents too. Turns out Mom didn’t know.”

Lunch box policing and food bans have been a hot topic in the past couple years. There have been news reports, editorials, and blog posts written about apple bans, treat bans, teachers not allowing students to eat certain foods or sending home notes about appropriate snacks.

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Martha Beach lives and works in Toronto as a freelance fact-checker, editor, and writer for a wide variety of publications. When she’s not working, you’ll find Martha on her yoga mat or hanging out with her daughter and husband.

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Martha Beach
Martha Beach
Martha Beach lives and works in Toronto as a freelance fact-checker, editor, and writer for a wide variety of publications. When she’s not working, you’ll find Martha on her yoga mat or hanging out with her daughter and husband.

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