More Nanny‐State Foolishness
Article I, Section VIII of the United States Constitution specifies the powers of the United States Congress. The list of congressional powers is not very long, comprising less than 20 items, so it did not take very long to discover that federal lawmakers do not have any power to regulate school lunches. So I was shocked, absolutely shocked, to read in the New York Times that Senators Harkin and Murkowski are pushing legislation to micro‐manage the number of calories in vending‐machine snacks (though they have graciously and generously decided to exempt the Girl Scouts):
Federal lawmakers are considering the broadest effort ever to limit what children eat: a national ban on selling candy, sugary soda and salty, fatty food in school snack bars, vending machines and cafeteria lines. …Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa and the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, has twice introduced bills to deal with foods other than the standard school lunch, which is regulated by Department of Agriculture. Several lawmakers and advocates for changes in school food believe that an amendment to the $286 billion farm bill is the best chance to get control of the mountain of high‐calorie snacks and sodas available to schoolchildren. Even if the farm bill does not pass, Mr. Harkin and Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, a sponsor of the amendment, vow to keep reintroducing it in other forms until it sticks. …Food for sale would have to be limited in saturated and trans fat and have less than 35 percent sugar. Sodium would be limited, and snacks must have no more than 180 calories per serving for middle and elementary schools and 200 calories for high schools. The standards would not affect occasional fund‐raising projects, like Girl Scout cookie sales.
