Icecream vans face total meltdown:indelible memory

[Gifted Gourmet]

article in UK Timesonline

There are about 5,000 ice-cream vans in Britain. In times gone by they would have parked at the side of most roads; but times have changed. The amendment would grant local authorities the power to ban ice-cream vans from parking near schools.  One dietitian told The Times that a ban on ice-cream vans near schools would be a draconian policy that may drive children to buy even less healthy foods at nearby shops.

Scroll down to: TREAT OR HEALTH HAZARD? for some amazing facts ... stuff I never even considered ...

Think this type of ban makes sense?

Will it help to end childhood obesity?

[bandregg]

You need to study the amount of ice cream sold now compared with the amount of ice cream sold ten years ago. That then needs to be corelated to childhood obesity rate differences between now and then. And you have to take into account changes in scholastic exercise programs and childhood activity. So, the short answer is, "no-one knows if it will really help, because no-one does this kind of research before suggesting these stupid bans." If I had to guess, I'd say that the level of ice cream sales has already fallen in favor of other types of treats (the "Daddy or Chips?" ad campaign comes to mind) without this ban. So, what's the outcome: some more people out of work, a favorite institution banished, and the kids are still going to be fat.

[Sugarella]

Uhm, how does the average family afford to send several kids to school with spending money each day, exactly?

If I was going to school and I had to buy a lunch there at several dollars a day, then bought a bag of chips and pop too, and presumably ice cream daily as the article is suggesting, I'd easily be spending about $150-$200/month. How do working class families with 2 or 3 or 4 kids going to school afford this, even?

Banning ice cream trucks near schools....I don't know. But if kids buy it every day, then it's not all the ice cream man's fault, is it?

Edited May 10, 2006 by Sugarella (log)

[Toliver]

Banning ice cream trucks near schools....I don't know. But if kids buy it every day, then it's not all the ice cream man's fault, is it? 

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Exactly. Ice cream trucks/vans are not the problem. Poor eating habits are the problem. Removing one "junk food" source from the kid's area won't do much if they will just turn to the nearest convenience store or worse, their own pantry cupboards at home to satisfy their junk food habit.

[jsolomon]

My memories of them are chasing them down by running pell-mell a block or two.

I earned that ice cream, dammit! And I'll defend to the death any child's opportunity to blithely run around and through traffic to get theirs, too.

But, when will people learn? Exercise is more of the answer than cutting calories.

[Pan]

There's something mean-spirited about taking the ice cream away from the kids. I agree; it's more important to have recess every day and a regular, good phys ed class that concentrates on exercise and not jocks making fun of kids who are not yet great at playing a sport or highly coordinated.

I do think that food served in school should be nutritious, well-balanced, and at least passable in terms of taste and smell, but hands off legal private enterprise outside the school.

[jsolomon]

God bless cash transactions.

Err, I mean, yeah! Let the ice cream man go!

[alacarte]

Most of my ice-cream-van memories are going to the truck after a day at the swimming pool, or running around at camp or the playground, or at least spending the day jumping rope or playing hopscotch outdoors.

The ice cream man is not intrinsically evil.

Consuming quarts of Haagen-Dazs sitting in the freezer after an afternoon spent in front of the TV is a greater problem.

[phaelon56]

If they limit kids to watching TV for no more than an hour each day, curtail the amount of time spent on the Internet and playing video games, mandate some fruit and vegetables in their diet every day, push them out the door to play outside unless the weather is intolerable... it might be a good place to start.

Heck - that sounds like my childhood although there was no Internet nor were there video games. Despite all that and the near total absence of ice cream trucks in my neighborhood (one of our neighbors threatened the ice cream guy too many times so he avoided our street)... I was till on the stocky side as a kid.

Ice cream trucks would appear to be far towards the bottom of the list when it comes to obesity in kids or anyone else.

[SuzySushi]

Have they made a seasonal correlation with obesity? Presumably in Britain, as in parts of the USA where the weather isn't warm all year round, the ice cream trucks are not on the streets in the wintertime. Does the rate of obesity go down then? If not, then it ain't the ice cream that's the problem!

[jgm]

My memories of them are chasing them down by running pell-mell a block or two.

I earned that ice cream, dammit!

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And I don't know about you, but I also burned a heckuva lot of calories jumping up and down, trying to persuade my mom to give me the money for ice cream. . . and then chasing the truck down.

Kids also have a lot more disposable income today. It allows them to act on their desires, instead of going through a parent. When I Was a Kid, back in The Olden Days, I had very little money for stuff like ice cream. My parents served as the gatekeepers for decisions about food. When kids have the financial means to make their own decisions, they're not always going to make good choices.

[MissAmy]

I was also one of the truck-chasers. I'd be sitting around in my grandmother's house, watching Days of Our Lives and bored out of my skull, when that siren call of the little tinkling jingle would rouse me out of my seat, and out the door down the street.

That's sad that the kids won't have the trucks. Also, I remember those portions from the ice cream truck being much smaller than the portion you would find at say an ice cream shop.

The only thing that contributes to obesity is bad habits and lack of proper exersize. I wish these bannings of various things would stop.

[Jmahl]

In the Fifties in the Bronx New York there were two brands of ice cream trucks, Bungalow Bar, and Good Humor. Bungalow Bar was the truck of my choice. An ice cream bar was a dime. Now Good Humor-and I have to admit that their toasted almond was very good was fifteen cents. Now we were allowed on treat a day. Some kids got two - and I thought that was rather decadent.

Times have changed and not always for the better.

Good licking,

Jmahl

[maggiethecat]

The Good Humor truck wends its way through ourhood May through September, and I'm happy to see it, even though I'm awful sick of the first eight bars of the "Arkansas Traveller." I smile when I see tiny kids running like mad down the street, their parents proceeding at a more sedate pace. These children are delighted -- happy. It's a big deal and a treat.

I doubt that this ice cream is good enough to contain much fat anyway. Lord love us: feed your kids real food instread of Lunchables and frozen pizza most of the time and I doubt the ice cream truck will add an ounce.

Tragic and stupid.

[ghostrider]

In my block, the ice cream truck is patronized by the kids who are otherwise playing street hockey / football / baseball, depending on the season. Somehow that strikes me as the way things should be.

Though, similar to maggiethecat, I have grown to loathe the theme from "The Sting."

[Gifted Gourmet]

Tragic and stupid.

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and supremely short sighted .. who will pay these kids' therapy bills when they mature?

I, too, think that the ice cream man is one of the myriad charms of childhood ... and probably the least offensive, fat-wise, as well. Thanks for saying it better, Maggie!

[melonpan]

i must be a cranky guy because i cant stand ice cream vans. i used to live in a neighborhood in where the trucks would visit every night after work. and on top of that of course they would come once or twice on saturdays and sundays.

they are a noisy nuisance. if you want ice cream, ask your parents to take you to the grocery store where you will get more bang for your buck.

banning them for any reason is good

[beandork]

It all makes me think of eddie murphy: "ICE CREAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!"

Just on the topic, I've been hearing a phantom ice-cream van jingle playing in my neighbourhood for the last year or so. I've done so many fruitless laps of the block looking for the bugger and had become convinced that it was some hidden prankster kids playing the ice-cream jingle from a stereo loudly, just so they could watch sad dudes like me rushing frantically around searching for a fix.

The other week I finally found the van - and now I've found it's route, just in time for summer, I hope it's not banned