Smart Snacks rules cut into profit at Greenville County schools

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A slew of volunteers man the Generals' Store at Wade Hampton High School, selling snacks to hungry high school students during breakfast and lunch hours.

In the past, students have loaded up on the store's staple items — chips and candy bars — but this year those snacks are noticeably absent from the store.

High-sugar, high-fat snacks have been banned under new nationwide healthy eating standards that went into effect in July.

Leaders of Wade Hampton's school store fear they could lose thousands of dollars in income this year, which could jeopardize after-school tutoring programs.

And Greenville County Schools says forced changes to its in-school food vendors could cost it $1 million in sales this school year.

Local schools, clubs and parent-teacher organizations say they are losing money because students aren't buying the new, healthier food options. The Greenville County school board has asked the state for relief from the new standards that officials called burdensome.

The ban has taken a bite out of fundraisers that sell cookies, candy bars and popcorn. It also affects vendors who provide items for sale in schools.

The changes, enacted to fight childhood obesity, could cost parent, teacher, student associations like Wade Hampton's, said Debbie Strickland, school improvement council chair for the Wade Hampton PTSA.

The Generals' store historically has generated $30,000-$40,000 a year to fund after-school tutoring and transportation, vital programs to the school's academic success for many of its low- to middle-income students, Strickland said.

"We're going to lose a huge percentage of our revenue," Strickland said. The store had a variety of healthy items as well as junk food, she said, but "I would say the junk was the better seller."

While parent-teacher associations across the county are grappling with how to make up for lost sales, the Greenville County school board has drafted a letter to the state Department of Education seeking to waive the restrictions as many days as possible.

But it will be months before the state board makes any changes, said Dino Tepporo, education department spokesman.