Letters to the Editor of the LA Times Re "A food truck stop?" 3/4 |http://lat.ms/ywYMI3
March 6, 2012
The bill to limit food trucks from parking "within 1,500 feet of elementary, middle and high schools from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on school days" is simple lunacy and demonstrates what is wrong with society's focus on human problems.
If food trucks are pushed away, will someone else propose to close down the doughnut shop directly across the street from the high school in our neighborhood? How about the fast food taco place on the other corner? And what would be the fate of the liquor store a few steps away, which sells junk food and soda? How exactly will this bill help decrease childhood obesity?
Maybe the money being put into this bill should instead focus on educating parents about helping kids make healthier choices. This effort reinforces the notion of some parents that childhood obesity is out of their hands.
We need to stop trying to fix these problems from outside. Instead, we should support parents in resuming their roles as primary educators of their children.
Diane Nunn
Valley Village
Trust me: I can tell you, as a junior high school teacher, neither the food truck nor the school cafeteria is the culprit behind the childhood obesity problem.
No Child Left Behind is far more culpable, I believe. Why? It has forced teachers and schools to choose between teaching physical education on a daily basis and teaching standards-based test-taking skills.
Blame the food trucks? Think again!
Elizabeth Osborne
Pismo Beach
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