Freebies – are we too broke for common sense?

Can you believe this?  Can we really debate the need for available drinking water?  For the full L.A. Times article, click here.

You just don’t imagine in our country in 2010 that there isn’t free water to drink while you are having a meal. But there isn’t,” said Kenneth Hecht, executive director of California Food Policy Advocates, an Oakland-based organization that supported the legislation. Leno’s Senate Bill 1413 requires schools by next July to make fresh drinking water available where students get their meals. The bill provides no funding, and districts can make the case that they cannot afford to comply.

But the solutions can be inexpensive, advocates say. In small schools, that can mean putting water pitchers and cups on lunch tables.

Montclair Elementary School in Oakland has a “hydration system,” basically a faucet that students use to fill their own bottles with cold drinking water, said George Manalo-LeClair, a parent at the school and senior director of legislation at California Food Policy Advocates.”

Seems simple enough, given buildings have potable water.  And when you think about the staff you are paying to manage drinking water, and the associated costs, think about the staff (and insurance)  to transport children to school, or feed children at school.  These services are what parents should be directly billed for –  everyone needs to step up and take responsibility for their own family’s daily expenses – food and transportation.  And if the family can help out by sending a thermos of water with that packed lunch, all the better.