New restrictions prohibit selling certain foods in school

It’s the start of a new school year, which means the beginning of new rules and regulations.  This year, the federal government has implemented a new rule that prohibits the selling of foods that do not meet federal nutrition standards.

From 7:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., the selling of these foods is prohibited, which means Bearden High School will no longer be selling the beloved DECA cookies or Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuits.

“If we were to sell biscuits here, they would have to have a whole grain bun and the weight of the chicken would have to meet the federal guidelines for a serving of meat,” Bearden principal Dr. John Bartlett said.

The school store is only allowed to sell sugar free candy and gum, and teachers may not bring food to distribute to students. However, the school has 30 days during the school year to stray from those rules.

The cost of this extends beyond student sadness about missing out on snacks – many clubs and organizations relied on the selling of these foods for fundraising.

“Since we can’t sell chicken biscuits, we are going to be short several thousand dollars because chicken biscuits were our largest fundraiser,” cheer team sponsor Mrs. Rebecca Nutter said. “So we’re trying to make up for that deficit in other ways and it’s taking more time and more effort, and it’s not very good.”

This loss of revenue is sending many Bearden organizations into overdrive trying to figure out a way to make up for lost money. DECA sponsor Mr. Adam Dyer plans on making the best of these changes by altering the cookies sold.

“Coach Dyer was talking about making whole grain cookies,” senior Andrew Bumpas said.

Although Bearden’s SGA does not rely on the selling of cookies or biscuits, they are also greatly affected by this change.

The main incentive for bringing in cans for Second Harvest was the fact that the top three classes received either a chicken biscuit or donut breakfast. With the loss of this incentive SGA must head back to the drawing board for ideas to encourage the student body to bring in cans.

This new rule is also affecting classes here at Bearden. The leadership classes mentor at Beaumont Elementary School and throw holiday parties complete with cookies and brownies. These parties will not be able to take place unless they fall on one of the 30 days they are allowed to break the rules.

“I think there’s going to be an outrage because everyone loves cookies,” senior Peyton Givens said. “All the foods that were sold here were generally foods that students want to eat, and now that they can’t eat them they might be upset.”