Carb-Loaded Concessions Fueling Football Fundraising: What Can We Do About It?

Filed under: Health — @ November 9, 2010

If it’s Fall in America, then it’s football season. From the kindergardener’s just learning how to play all the way to the professionals in the National Football League, everyone seems to get excited about this time of the year as the temperatures begin to drop and we root for our favorite team. Where I live in South Carolina, football is almost like a religion the way people so closely monitor their local high school or college team and I enjoy watching grown adults get all upset or excited when their team wins and loses. That’s not to say I’m not a fan of the sport, but I don’t get all obsessive about it like some people do.

In high school football stadiums all across the country, there are three things you will consistently see: football players, fans, and food! It’s that latter one where many of the fundraising efforts are focused on by selling overpriced concessions as a means for raising money for the football team, band, and/or the school itself. If you’ve ever been to one of these games and stood in line for 30-45 minutes to get something to eat, then you know the selection is quite limited to mostly carbs, carbs, and more carbs. From nachos to French fries, sugary sodas and corn dogs, it’s almost impossible to escape the overabundance of carbohydrates that fill the air during football games.

The sad reality of this in light of the health and weight problems we face as a nation wasn’t lost on one of my readers who is a parent of a daughter in the high school band. She was recently one of the volunteers working the concession stand at the school and wanted to share her thoughts about this deep-ingrained part of American culture.

Click here to read what she had to say about the carb-loaded concessions sold at football stadiums and the manipulation that takes place to lure people into purchasing this food because it’s “for a good cause.”