Vermont is shining a light on what's really in kids' cafeteria food — and taking the necessary steps to make it healthier and safer.
A new bill introduced in the Vermont Senate is targeting artificial food dyes often found in processed snacks and drinks sold in schools, aiming to remove them altogether. This could not only benefit students' health but also promote a shift toward fresher, locally sourced meals.
Senator Ginny Lyons, who introduced the bill, modeled it after California's 2024 School Food Safety Act. While California's law also limits sugary and fatty foods, Vermont's S.26 focuses on eliminating artificial dyes like Red 40, Blue 1, and Yellow 5 from all food and beverages sold in schools.
Though Vermont schools already focus heavily on fresh meals, these dyes still creep into cafeterias through vending machines, school stores, and pre-packaged snack options. The new bill would prohibit schools from selling any food or drinks containing artificial dyes.
Research continues to link these synthetic dyes to potential negative effects in children, including hyperactivity and inattention.
Removing these additives could help curb behavioral challenges linked to their consumption, improving students' ability to focus and thrive in class. Even better, the bill supports Vermont's growing trend of sourcing fresh, local ingredients and reducing the need for heavily processed, dye-filled foods in the first place.
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While this bill is meant to benefit student health, shifting away from processed foods packed with artificial dyes could be beneficial to the environment as well.
Processed and pre-packaged foods rely on large-scale industrial production, which contributes to pollution and generates unnecessary packaging waste. Vermont schools are cutting down on transportation emissions by emphasizing produce from local farms and cooking meals from scratch, lowering demand for mass-produced snacks and supporting a more sustainable, regional food system.
Fewer processed food purchases mean less energy-intensive manufacturing and less pollution in our air and waterways.
Karyl Kent, nutrition director for Mount Mansfield Unified Union School District and former president of the School Nutrition Association of Vermont, praised the bill. "We're working on cleaning up our food system, making it more local and healthier for kids," Kent said. "We've got to keep an eye on our own kids in our own state."
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