Milk in School Vending Machines Urged (Schumer siting)

Yahoo News ^ | 3/14/02 | SEANNA ADCOX

[Libloather]

Thursday March 14, 2:49 am Eastern Time

Associated Press
Milk in School Vending Machines Urged
By SEANNA ADCOX
Associated Press Writer

FARM SCENE: New York Senator Promotes Placing Milk Vending Machines in Schools

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has urged the federal government to promote putting milk vending machines in school hallways, an attempt to boost health and dairy farmers.

The New York Democrat cited a successful "vendi-milk" program in Buffalo-area schools as proof that students will make healthier eating choices if given the opportunity.

The vending machines, selling locally produced milk in assorted flavors, also create a new market for ailing dairy farmers, Schumer said Wednesday.

"The machines could be just what the doctor ordered to clean up the dietary disarray in schools and help fix the crisis facing New York's dairy farms," Schumer sad. "Instead of asking, 'Got Milk?' these machines scream out 'Get Milk!'"

In a letter dated Wednesday, Schumer asked Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to spread the program nationwide, possibly through the renewed Child Nutrition Act and National School Lunch Act. Both are set to expire this year.

Schumer did not give specific ideas but promotion possibilities could include offering schools financial incentives, said Schumer spokesman Phil Singer.

"We might legislate. We want to hear what the USDA says," Schumer said. "But we probably need legislation to grease the skids."

A U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman, Jean Daniel, who had not yet seen the letter, said Veneman will be "more than happy" to discuss Schumer's suggestions when the reauthorization process begins for the child nutrition act.

Federal regulations now require schools to turn off soda and candy machines in the cafeteria during meal times, though machines in the hallways can stay on all day. New York goes a step further. State law prohibits the sale of "minimal nutritional value" food anywhere until after lunch.

At least eight upstate New York school districts have installed milk machines since mid-December. On average, each machine sells 300 gallons of milk per month, with the biggest hits being chocolate and strawberry flavors, said Mark Serling of Upstate Farms Cooperative.

At Springville -- 30 miles south of Buffalo -- students buy an average of 140 pints of milk per school day, Schumer said. That translates into nearly $4,000 annually in revenue for farmers.

[Libloather]

Chuckie plays doctor.

[Libloather]

The University of Florida recently completed a study linking milk protein to autistic behavior and sleep disorders in some children. Studies in Europe long ago conneted learning disabilities in some to milk protein.

Sounds like cigarette vending machines would be less harmful - eh?

[pocat]

Alternative headline:

Chuck the Shmuck promotes "Homeland Calcium Replenishment Act"

What a loser.

[Willie Green]

Chuckie plays doctor.

IMHO, Vending machine milk (rather than soda) in schools is a good idea.
They should put fruit juices in the machines as well.

However, this is an issue for the local school board, NOT the U.S. Senate.

Chuckie is a misfit, he ran for the wrong public office.

[muawiyah]

Chucky once again shows his anti East Asian, anti American Indian, and anti Central African attitudes with this idea of putting a poisonous substance in the schools.

Time for New Yorkers to send this joker back to the farm.

(NOTE: Not all persons as adults produce enough lactase to properly breakdown lactose or milk sugar. In those cases bacteria further down the intestinal tract do so. Huge quantities of hydrogen gas are released and the affected individual suffers extreme distress and pain.

This phenomenon is well documented and there are numerous sites on the net to learn all about it.

There are insensitive people, e.g. Chucky Schumer, the New York "Baby Killer", for example, who do not care about other folk's pain.)

[buffyt]

Milk can cause allergies. Plus they are putting FLAVORS in it, probably artificial flavors that are NOT good for the kids, not any better for them than soda. & Juice is VERY high in sugar. Soda is very bad for you. They should encourage the kids to drink WATER! At my gym they handed out a sheet that listed the bad things about Coke and the good things about water. You should drink for example 50 oz. of water a day if you weigh 100 lbs. and so on. Since I started drinking water at that scale I feel so much better. If you wait till you are thirsty, it is too late, you are already getting dehydrated. If they really cared about the kids' health, they would let them carry water bottles with them all the time, like the atheletes at my gym do. I still have nighmares that I am in school and I am thirsty and the water fountain won't work. I think the kids are thirsty for water and they don't even know it. My 200 lb son who is a HS senior and an avid body builder tells ME how important water is to the overall health of the body!!!!!

[illbenice]

Yeah kids are really going to buy milk!

[freesia2]

I'm in complete agreement with you on this.

[The Raven]

Yep...some of the whack-o's are after milk.

[Amelia]

Chuckie obviously doesn't have a clue. But as someone who eats in school cafeterias on a regular basis, I really think they should give the children more to drink than the ubiquitous "half pint of milk or juice".

[Ubonic]

The University of Florida recently completed a study linking milk protein to autistic behavior and sleep disorders in some children. Studies in Europe long ago conneted learning disabilities in some to milk protein.

Sounds like cigarette vending machines would be less harmful - eh?

OH MY GOD MILK IN VENDING MACHINES!!!!! SCHUMER IS A FASCIST!!

On a more serious note, milk may contribute to, or cause, autism in children. I work with families with autistic children. I recommend eliminating milk and grains containing gluten entirely from their diet. For more info:

Collected Net Articles of Kalle Reichelt, M.D.

[Libloather]

Vending machine milk (rather than soda) in schools is a good idea.

Fine. But if these young-skulls-full-of-mush can afford milk, they should be able to pay for their own lunch. How about some hamburgers in vending machines? Same animal - no?

[barker]

Seems to me Chuckie isn't doing this "for the children" but he's really doing it for "Turncoat Jeffords" and not telling us.

[Rebelbase]

"Huge quantities of hydrogen gas are released "

Don't tell the kids, they'll be trying to disrupt class for sure.

[otterpond]

Dear Senator Shmuck:

LEAVE US THE HELL ALONE!!!!!!!!

Sincerely,
OP

[TomB]

The University of Florida recently completed a study linking milk protein to autistic behavior and sleep disorders in some children. Studies in Europe long ago conneted learning disabilities in some to milk protein.

Oh boy.

[buffyt]

I am allergic to cow's milk, but also allergic to Coke. So I can't drink much of it. My son gets watered down iced tea at school, and it is SO WEAK that it is like water. He also drinks a lot of water there. Milk can be very good for you if you don't put a lot of artificial color and flavors in it, and if you aren't allergic to it. If the kids aren't allergic to milk, and most aren't, it would be good for them... but would they drink it? & Does Chuckie really care about "THE CHILDRENNNNN!!!!" or is this perhaps a campaign scheme. Those rascally demoncraps are always cooking up risky campaign schemes. How about "Senator Tripper" too????? I wonder what SHE will come up with!!! ha ha ha

[buffyt]

Ha ha ha.... disrupting class! GOOD ONE!!!

[Clara Lou]

This is one of the all-time stupidest ideas I've heard in some time. I can't believe Chuckie wants his name associated with it.
Having said this, soda machines have no business on school campuses. Pepsi, Coke, etc., are making a killing, parents, in turn, are getting hammered with dental bills, and kids are getting fatter and fatter. Instead of having breakfast in the mornings, kids are stopping at the soda machines to get sodas-- negative nutrition.

[Eala]

The vending machines, selling locally produced milk in assorted flavors,

How much sugar is in that flavored milk?

[Gritty]

Search as I might, I couldn't find any reference in the United States Constitution for United States Senators micromanaging the dietary habits of New York schoolchildren.

Maybe I'll go look some more. I must have missed it!

[aruanan]

The University of Florida recently completed a study linking milk protein to autistic behavior and sleep disorders in some children. Studies in Europe long ago conneted learning disabilities in some to milk protein.

PubMed, for the search terms "milk" and "autism" returns only 5 hits over a period of 27 years, the most recent in 1995 which suggested some correlation between dietary proteins (including gluten) and infantile autism. For "milk" and "sleep disorder", there were no hits at all. For the search terms "milk" and "learning disabilities", there was a single hit (not from Europe) from Pediatrics, 1976, for "Intellectual deficits after transient tyrosinemia in the term neonate" which would be referring more to errors of metabolism (such as phenylketonuria) rather than to an inherent food danger.

There is not, nor has there been, a burgeoning of scientific studies concluding that cow's milk is "bad" for children as opposed to neonates or premature infants.

Any possible problems of dietary proteins and allergies or disease are dwarfed by those caused by too much food and too little physical activity in children. People would better serve their children's health by urging them to get up off their asses and away from the television than by bloviating against milk. Of course, bloviating against milk gives one the warm fuzzies of believing himself to have done something without the muss and fuss of actually altering his behavior by having to organize activities to increase his own children's physical activity and to decrease their food intake.

Funny, isn't it, how easy it is for people to just assert something? It must be quite liberating not to have to worry about whether something one says has any validity as long as it has the intended effect.

[concerned about politics]

When I went to school, we had a choice of milk or juice. The food in the cafeteria was real.
Back then, they felt healthy food was good for the children who may not be getting it at home. At least the kids would get one good meal a day.
They used to put the kids first.

Today, the soda compainies have money, money, money! Now, the money comes first.

"Kids? What kids? You mean the slabs of meat on our assembly line? Oh yes, they're worth millions!"
" So what if they're all wacked out on sugar highs, we just say they have ADD , drug them, and count our cash."

[Ubonic]

PubMed, for the search terms "milk" and "autism" returns only 5 hits over a period of 27 years, the most recent in 1995 which suggested some correlation between dietary proteins (including gluten) and infantile autism.

Try Google.

[concerned about politics]

Having said this, soda machines have no business on school campuses. Pepsi, Coke, etc., are making a killing, parents, in turn, are getting hammered with dental bills, and kids are getting fatter and fatter.

And 'bad parenting' is getting blamed for it.

[goodnesswins]

In 1975 I was told by my 5 year old son's allergist that children did NOT need milk after the age of 6-7....they could get all they needed (calcium, etc.) from other foods, i.e. a well-balanced diet. HE WAS RIGHT. And a Senator trying to fool with school food programs is IDIOTIC.....wait until they get into YOUR REFRIGERATOR/PANTRY!!!!

[Hank Rearden]

"We might legislate. We want to hear what the USDA says," Schumer said. "But we probably need legislation to grease the skids."

Got Big Government?

[general_re]

Hmmm, you did better than I did. Medline turned up 3 articles on "milk AND autism", one of which was an Italian study (probably the same 1995 article you saw) showing an improvement in autistic patients on a gluten-free and milk-free diet. And one was a Norwegian study from 1991 showing NO improvement in autistic patients on a milk-free and gluten-free diet.

Seems to me like the jury's still way out on this one...

[Willie Green]

Fine. But if these young-skulls-full-of-mush can afford milk, they should be able to pay for their own lunch. How about some hamburgers in vending machines? Same animal - no?

Perhaps vending machines should be cut-out altogether, on the "no-snacks-between-meals" theory. It just makes for more crumbs and trash for the custodians to sweep up. Let the kid's get their milk, juice, apples, burgers, etc. from a real live cafeteria lady at lunch time. No sense jeopardizing their health with vendo-matic "food" at such a tender age.

[TomB]

Actually, if you are looking for actual research in peer-reviewed studies, Google isn't a good search tool to use, it's hard separating the wheat from the chaff. PubMed is the best source for straight scientific information.

[Greybird]

All that excess milk produced by dairy-farmer price supports (with taxpayers' money) has to go SOMEWHERE, doesn't it?

Maybe Chuckie will next deal with overproduction in the paint industry, such as at my brother's job, by requiring that every homeowner repaint the bedrooms.

[Clara Lou]

"bad parenting gets blamed for it"
Parents ought to check with their kids to see how much money they are taking to school. Why does a child need money at school? (My son, for instance, has absolutely no need for money at school. He eats breakfast at home and charges his lunch twice a week in the cafeteria.) Some need it, most don't. Parents should be aware. There are kids who hit the soda machine before, during, and after school. Would the parents want their children doing this if they knew? (Of course, we have the parents who take their kids to the drive-through every morning for breakfast-- the soda comes with it.)

[Clara Lou]

In most Texas school districts, the school cafeterias (Food Services) are a separate entity. The workers make their money from what they sell and receive no wages from the district. What do you think the food is like in our school cafeteria??? For breakfast they sell doughnuts, HUGE cinnamon rolls, big cookies, pancakes with syrup (a favorite of kids is pancake syrup on donuts-- can you believe it?). Oh-- they have toast and breakfast burritos, but few buy and eat them. Then, of course, the kids top this "breakfast" off with chocolate milk (sugar), strawberry milk (sugar), or apple juice (high fructose corn syrup). Our children's bodies will be made of sugar.

[afraidfortherepublic]

When I was in school, all of the vending machines sold milk, juice, and apples. As we had no on campus cafeteria, this was really important.

[aruanan]

Try Google.

PubMed is Google for scientific/medical research. If it's not there, then it's not in a reliable journal of medicine or biological science.

[timm22]

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has urged the federal government to promote putting milk vending machines in school hallways, an attempt to boost health and dairy farmers.

Dear Chuckie,

Where does the Constitution give the Federal government the power to "promote putting milk vending machines in school hallways"?

[Libloather]

From the latest stuff written about Janet:
But when (Reno) went on Cuban radio last summer to try to defuse the controversy, the host offered her a container of milk, since "from 7 years of age in Cuba, children can't drink milk" (it's rationed).

A perfect example of what happens when Big Gubmint gets control of Massive Milk...

[aruanan]

Seems to me like the jury's still way out on this one...

Well, yes, if there were a real question. However, about the most reliable thing that can be said about cow's milk and children's health is that, for newborns (especially preemies), mother's milk is the best. The reason for this is at least two-fold:
1. The intestinal tight junctions are still leaky. Because of this, large peptides in cow's milk or other food can make it across into the body and trigger an antibody response, laying the grounds for later allergic response. Colostrum in human milk seals these still-leaky junctions.
2. Mother's milk contains factors that help the infant's immune system to mature as well as antibodies that serve to protect the infant against gastrointestinal infections. Such infections can broach intestinal integrity and increase the possibility of exposure to allergens.

The combination of loss of protection and exposure to allergens could increase the risk of an infant developing food allergies. However, though some children may show a sensitivity to milk proteins, there is considerable evidence to suggest that the heightened levels of cleanliness in advanced Western countries compared to underdeveloped nations is responsible for the greater incidence of allergies in these countries. The reason for this is that the immune system needs to have sufficient challenge to develop properly. Lack of challenge to the immature immune system is as bad as lack of physical activity is to the cardiovascular system.

As I said above, the much greater threat to children's health is due to physical inactivity and obesity rather than to cow's milk.

[LibWhacker]

PETA's gonna cry.

[timm22]

An interesting point. Although, in the United States, our problem with government involvement seems to be overproduction of milk, rather than shortage. So instead of rationing, we would probably have forced consumption.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Putzy Schumer said it's good for me!"

[codder too]

Can hardly wait until Chuckies plan runs headlong into the MULTIMILLION dollar exclusive contracts that Pepsi and Coke have with High Schools, Colleges and Universities.

[Libloather]

PETA's gonna cry.

They'll have a cow - eh? I was trying to come up with some pro-beef organization title. How about MEATA (Mammals Eating All Tasty Animals)...

[Libloather]

So instead of rationing, we would probably have forced consumption.

Or make more cheese...

[LibWhacker]

lol . . . I think they should put T-bones in vending machines.

[aruanan]

Was it a good movie? I liked the sound track by Walter (now Wendy) Carlos.

[Ubonic]

Try Google.

PubMed is Google for scientific/medical research. If it's not there, then it's not in a reliable journal of medicine or biological science.

I know., but there's more information available than just what is on PubMed.

[supercat]

I liked the sound track by Walter (now Wendy) Carlos.

Hmm... I hadn't known that W. Carlos did the soundtrack to Clockwork Orange. Was he responsible for the scoring of "Ludwig Van", the other music, or both?

[aruanan]

I know., but there's more information available than just[sic] what is on PubMed.

Sure, but as far as scientific reliability is concerned, PubMed has essentially filtered out a great deal of crap that is otherwise found through Google.

PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine, provides access to over 11 million MEDLINE citations back to the mid-1960's and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Was it a good movie?",

Depends on your definition of, "good." It is an intensely psychological film, and Kubrick is at his best...The film is meant to be disturbing, and it exceeds all expectations...