Snack and drink vendors – who have long found themselves on the fringe of the national school nutrition policy as they ply their trade beyond the school gate – are to be brought into compliance with the policy as education officials launch a training programme to ensure healthier food choices for students on and off campus.
Compliance checks involving vendors within the school environment started last September, in an approach that stresses guidance rather than punishment, said Nicole Elliott, the education officer responsible for the policy.
While reporting near 90 per cent compliance on the sale of sugar drinks, the ministry official estimates that only 45 per cent of the snack sales complied with the policy, despite a previous training programme.
“As it relates to the ones on the outside of the schools, when we go to them, it’s not necessarily to see or to tell them they are doing the wrong thing. It’s to give them some guidance; this is what you can do,” Elliott told Barbados TODAY on Wednesday at the Childhood Obesity Prevention Youth Health Summit held at Sandals Royal Ballroom.
The ministry recognises that many vendors depend on the trade for their livelihood and therefore the goal involves helping them transition rather than enforcing penalties, Elliott insisted.
“We know that persons still need to be able to make money, but we want them to be able to make that money in a manner that is not hazardous to our children or to our future as a country.”
Late last year, Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman told Barbados TODAY that the ministry planned to extend monitoring beyond school compounds.
In a bid to keep school campuses free of unhealthy sugary drinks and snacks, Blackman said he intended to personally lead checks to ensure vendors operating outside school gates also offered healthier alternatives.
Stressing that Barbados faced a growing non-communicable disease epidemic, the minister said access to healthier options for students had become increasingly urgent as childhood obesity continued to rise.
The effort formed part of the government’s responsibility to ensure nutritional standards did not stop at the school fence, he said, noting long-standing concerns about the quality of snacks sold only metres from classroom entrances.
The 2023 School Nutrition Policy was introduced to curb sugary drinks and regulate the types of snacks and meals sold and consumed on school premises.
A key challenge raised by vendors involves difficulty sourcing approved products, Elliott said.
Education officers also try to link vendors directly with wholesalers and distributors supplying approved products, she added.
“So some of them (vendors) may say, ‘It’s difficult for me to get this because it’s the truck that has these items and they don’t come to us’. So I’m able to say, ‘I know the distribution manager for this company that has these items, I’m going to link you two so that you can start getting the correct products so that you don’t have to actually go and search for them in the store.’
“So for them, it is easier if we can have the trucks going to them or if the distributor can send deliveries out to them.”
According to the education official, some companies even offered promotional packages to vendors selling at the National Primary Schools’ Athletic Championship (NAPSAC), allowing them to buy approved products at reduced prices instead of sourcing them individually from retailers.
“We had distribution companies who came on board and said if we have small vendors from NAPSAC who want to sell our products, we are going to give them promotion packages that will be different than if they would have bought them from the supermarket,” Elliott said.
She explained that the arrangement helped vendors promote healthier snack options while maintaining their profit margins.
Last year, the ministry hosted a vendor training session attended by about 35 vendors operating in and around schools.
The session included training on the policy, along with vouchers mainly supporting improvements to food handling and preparation.
Despite those efforts, she acknowledged that compliance remains uneven.
Elliott said compliance with sweetened beverage rules now stands at about 85 per cent, but compliance for snacks remains significantly lower at 45 per cent.
The difference stems partly from the large number of snack products available on the market.
“When we first started the alternative snack and beverage list, we had a catalogue for Barbados, about 1 700 variations of snacks available on the market.”
That number has since been reduced to roughly 450 to 500 products as the ministry works through a phased approach to improve nutritional standards.
A further complication involves vendors selling directly outside school gates, where children often purchase snacks after parents drop them off.
She said the ministry hopes to bring all vendors into the effort so that what students encounter outside school reflects the standards enforced inside.
She acknowledged that vendors may not fully understand how the foods they sell can in fact reduce childhood obesity.
“I think it comes down to people having to feed their families. So if somebody has to feed their family, their family is at the top of their mind. They are not thinking about the outcomes of other people that may be impacted later on. In their mind, it is my family first, I need to be able to make a dollar so I can keep a roof over my head.”
Deeper engagement with vendors would therefore become critical as the policy continues to roll out, said Elliott, adding that officials will continue outreach efforts as compliance checks progress across schools.
What to know about efforts to improve compliance with the School Nutrition Policy:
- Compliance checks targeting vendors operating within the school environment began in September. Officials say the process focuses on guidance rather than punishment.
- Sweetened beverages compliance: about 85 per cent.
- Snack compliance: about 45 per cent, with officials acknowledging more work remains.
- When the ministry first assessed the market, officials identified about 1 700 variations of snack products available in Barbados.
- The approved alternative snack list has since been reduced to about 450 to 500 items as part of a phased approach to improving nutritional standards.
- A recent vendor training session attracted about 35 vendors operating around schools.
- Vendors received vouchers, equipment and support tools, including food handling items such as tongs and storage containers to improve food safety.
- One of the main challenges raised by vendors involves difficulty sourcing approved snacks.
- Officials also connected vendors with distributors and wholesalers who supply products that meet the nutrition guidelines.
- Some distributors offered promotional packages for vendors, including those selling at events such as NAPSA, to make healthier snacks more affordable.
- Vendors can register for training or request guidance by contacting the Ministry of Educational Transformation.
- Interested vendors can call the ministry and ask for Education Officer Nicole Elliott, who oversees the Barbados School Nutrition Policy.
- Vendors can also email nelliott@mes.gov.bb for information about the alternative snacks and beverages list and training opportunities.
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