Something to chew on

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: October 13, 2009 7:00 PM

It was a glorious victory for those wanting to partake in a Vipers tradition — knocking back onion rings. In a united front, the North Okanagan Regional District board nixed attempts to scrap some deep-fried or sugar-laden items from Wesbild Centre’s menu. Instead, those crowd-pleasers will remain, while some healthier options will be added. “People should be able to make their own choices,” said director Mike Gavinchuk last Wednesday.No one can argue with that, but what was Gavinchuk thinking when he supported the healthy food and beverage policy during a Greater Vernon Advisory Committee meeting Sept. 10? Wasn’t there a need for choices then? And then there’s director Doug Dirk, who also raised his hand last week to provide both good and not-so-good options at Wesbild. It was Dirk who actually made the motion at GVAC to replace onion rings with frozen burritos, nachos with apple chips and chicken strips with fingers (apparently there’s a difference).

Director Wayne Lippert, like Gavinchuk and Dirk, was also involved in the flip-flop. In September he was all for the healthy food policy, while it was the mayor that proposed an amendment at NORD to allow junk food to remain. When asked to explain his actions, Lippert claimed he wasn’t aware that any food items would actually be eliminated when GVAC originally discussed the matter. I find that somewhat surprising as the staff report in September was quite comprehensive. In fact, there was a chart that explained what would go, what would be new and what would stay at the concession. Does this mean that Lippert and the others didn’t read the information put before them?

Beyond the prospect of the politicians simply changing their minds, which is possible, there could be other factors at work here. Among them is the realization that changes to the menu would upset hockey fans. And not only are they voters, but any experts at heckling on-ice action could turn their sights on Lippert who attends many of the games. Another factor that also couldn’t be ignored was the bottom line. Staff had predicted that scrapping some foods from Wesbild Centre and the recreation complex vending machines would create $15,000 to $20,000 in lost revenue in the first year. The politicians would have had a difficult time convincing residents that times are tight and higher taxes are needed when an easy source of cash was tossed into the dumpster.

But, in the end, the willingness of our elected officials to reverse thrusters may have had everything to do with their own dietary habits. At the time of the discussion last Wednesday, cans of pop were clearly evident on the board table, as were bags of chips, candy and nuts. How do you honestly convince the public that a forced-fed change in eating patterns is good for them, when NORD meetings appear to be sponsored by Coke?