Last night, while checking on our weapons screeners posted at the Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall, I bought myself a Snickers candy bar from the vending machine in the screening room. It looks like those days of being able to buy a Coke or a Snickers bar there (and other County facilities) are numbered.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting
L.A. County puts vending machines on a diet
Supervisors approve bill requiring that food and drinks sold in most L.A. County facilities match the stricter nutritional standards imposed on California schools.
By Mary MacVean
August 19, 2009
If it's a soda you crave after a sweaty basketball game on an L.A. County court, or a candy bar you hunger for while waiting at a county office, you're money's going to be no good in the vending machines.
Taking a cue from standards adopted for California schools, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to require that all food and drinks in the vending machines in most L.A. County facilities -- including offices, parks and recreation centers, and medical facilities -- meet state nutrition guidelines.
People can expect to see the changes in 400 to 500 machines over the next six months or so, said Yolanda Vera, health deputy for Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who introduced the policy along with Supervisor Mike Antonovich.
"It is essentially eliminating bad choices and causing people to take advantage of good choices," Ridley-Thomas said after the vote.
Most people who frequent County facilities are adults and are mature enough to decide for themselves whether a food product is good for them or not. They don't need a "nanny government" to tell them. That's the difference between allowing such at County facilities and California schools.
Has my old friend Mike Antonovich turned into a squishy liberal member of the "food police?"
UPDATE: A couple of hours ago, I received a call from Tony Bell, who is Supervisor Antonovich's press aide. He said that he (or they) were Googling and spotted the headline of this blog post (I did send a link to the blog post to their office). So he decided to call me and read me the riot act!
Not really.
Actually, it was a nice conversation with a lot of laughs. It seems that Supervisor Antonovich is a real "health food nut" and not some "squishy liberal." That was the motivating factor for his support for this new county action, and not from a "we know better than you" attitude. It was Tony's view that maybe they ought to do away with all vending machines altogether and just let people use the drinking fountains.
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