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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, December 21, 2012 · 18 Healthy eats at school? By Brennan Doherty, Grade 12, Abbey Park H.S. T he coffee shop inside a gas station on Upper Middle and Third Line is smaller than a teacher's office, and yet sees lineups of up to two dozen cars at the drive-through window every morning -- lineups of students often stretch out the door. Cafeterias used to serve coffee, energy drinks, and soda across the province. But ever since Policy/Program Memorandum (PPM) No. 150 was put into practice two years ago, students have moved elsewhere for their daily fix. This isn't a problem, since there are plenty of places students can walk to find the fatty foods the policy prohibits or severely restricts from what's sold in cafeterias; most notably being coffee. In a 30-minute walk from Abbey Park High School, I tracked down nine establishments that sell coffee, energy drinks, sugary pop, candy, and high-fat foods. The policy was established with the aim of promoting healthy eating as a "critical component of a healthy lifestyle." Offering low-sodium, low-fat and zero-sugar products for sale in school cafeterias to promote healthy eating are part of PPM 150's mandate to combat childhood diabetes and obesity. And yet, the restrictions it has on foods, which it considers to be unhealthy, are relaxed when food and drink is, "sold for fundraising activities that occur off school premises... (or) sold in staff rooms." Worse still, the alternatives being offered are just as unhealthy, if not more. In 2009, a root beer was offered for sale at Abbey Park -- a drink with 160 calories, 45 grams of sugar, and 45 milligrams of sodium in a 300-millilitre can. Four years later, the diet brand, now served at Abbey Park, has zero calories, no caffeine, 50 mg of sodium, and the addition of aspartame -- no doubt used as a sweetener. A chemical surrounded by controversy, Aspartame has been attributed to a variety of side effects. PPM 150 is an excellent idea. Its logic assumes students spend most of their day at school; promoting healthy eating at school translates to life after school. But devoted fast-food lovers will never stop indulging in the lunch of their choice if there are other options. If you are a teacher or student interested in participating in an upcoming Kids Speak Out - School News column featured in the Beaver, please e-mail Tom Dykes at ellergreen58@gmail.com.