Green logic

Russel Norman is upset with Katherine Rich for opposing the food police. He says:

Does the National Party think its ok to use the state to force parents to send their children to an institution that then feeds them food that is bad for their health? Or are they now in favour of making school voluntary because it is too nanny state-ish to force parents to send their kids to school?

My response:

1) It is only compulsory to attend classes at school, it is not compulsory to buy food from the school tuckshop. Not even NCEA has credits for this activity yet.

2) Even if it was compulsory to buy food from the tuckshop, kids can choose from the variety for sale.

3) Very few foods are intrinsically unhealthy in moderation. A student might bring his or her own sandwiches and fruit lunch to school 19 out of 20 days, but once a month want to buy a pie. A pie a month is not unhealthy. A pie a day probably is.