*Editor’s note: Letters to the editor were compiled from students in grades 5-8 at the Sunnyvale Youth Newspaper Camp in July.
Food transparency
Natural beats artificial any day of the week
Lots of colorful snacks such as gummy bears, some types of wafers, Jello, Starbursts, and M&Ms have artificial ingredients. I believe companies like the ones listed above should try to use natural ingredients instead of artificial ones for the health of their customers.
Anonymous
Fewer complaints if dishes had better labeling
I have noticed that many restaurants have been putting different meats in their dishes instead of what is labeled.
I think restaurants should state on their menus what they put in their products. This way, less people will be complaining that their food tastes strange.
Anonymous fifth-grader
McDonald’s should provide healthier option
I had some information about McDonald’s and their food. McDonald’s should not have a lot of junk food in their restaurant.
Almost 99 percent of their food is grease and grease can make you fat. McDonald’s should use less grease and make 10 percent of their options healthy.
Alisa Dawson
Anxiety creeps in when food is a mystery
Just a short while ago, I was informed that some restaurants and fast-food places lie about the ingredients in their dishes, or neglect to tell people about the contents of their food.
I get pretty nervous not knowing what’s in my meals. Something I’m allergic to could be in there, or the ingredients may be unhealthy or tainted with toxic chemicals!
Restaurants can simply be honest about the food they use, maybe write down the ingredients in their meals, and submit to more inspections. Hopefully, this will make eating much better for everyone.
Alyssa Umino
Anxious eater
Fast-food hamburgers are dangerous
Attention to all fast-food customers: fast-food hamburgers are dangerous. They might put horse or dog meat instead of beef.
So to be on the safe side, there should be monthly inspections without advanced warning. Please consider my advice.
Bilal Ron
Sunnyvale student
Politics, Energy and Education
More companies should produce electric cars
Obama said that he will support having more electric cars. Companies like Tesla are already creating electric cars, so why can’t they have more?
The Tesla companies should make and sell more electric cars for a cheaper price, so that more people can have Teslas. That way, we can reduce the amount of pollution in the world and protect Earth’s health.
Akhil Kasetty
Future electric car designer
Common Core standards can be difficult
I think the new Common Core standards are too hard for the students. The teachers now ask students to write a five-paragraph essay in an hour.
It is very hard, and I think they should keep it, but they should give students more time. It is challenging, but more time is needed.
Advay Anand
Obesity issue in the U.S. needs to be addressed
I believe that the obesity problem in the U.S. needs to be confronted, and we should take great heed of it because of how rapidly the number of obese children is growing.
These days, one in every three American children has a fast-food meal almost every day. No wonder our future generation will be ending in hospitals sooner than they should!
We should really start becoming aware of this problem by putting solutions to it. My proposal is that the government should establish a program for better nutrition so that people will be motivated to end the obesity problem forever.
Our country’s children have not been taking notice of the unhealthy junk that they are dumping in their bodies. They don’t know the truth about what they are eating, and believe that nothing negative will happen.
However, if children know what is happening to them, they will want to be healthier and protect their lives. Therefore, the government should take the lead in this problem so that our country, specifically the next generation, is not in danger.
Vidhima Shetty
American kids lagging behind other countries
The U.S. has some of the lowest test scores among developed countries, even though we have more or less the same level of technology.
Think about it like this: all of the developed nations have the materials to give their kids a good education. So why are we still behind?
Also, many technological advances are made in Silicon Valley, and yet most schools on the West Coast can’t compare with schools on the East.
I believe that there should be a way to fix this problem, even though I don’t have an exact strategy. I think that Common Core standards are the first step toward improving the American education system.
Eugenia Chien
Student at Cupertino Middle School
U.S. should cut reduce pollution
The United States has problems and one of the most pressing is that it produces 30 percent of the world’s pollution, though we make up 5 percent of the world’s population. Consider looking at our world 100 years from now.
At the pace we are going, you can imagine a sky that is always dark, clouding up our luminous sun. Who would want a dark day every day? Doesn’t Mother Earth deserve some respect?
I believe that we can make the world a better place by taking pride in electric cars. For a cleaner and more energy-efficient country, I believe President Obama’s goal of producing 15,000 electric cars a year is the first step.
Ishika Kamchetty
Cupertino Middle School student
Good eating habits need to start early
Pizza is a vegetable?
Recently, Congress declared that pizza is a vegetable. This statement is very wrong, and something that we need to change.
Pizza is probably the No. 1 thing that kids consume every year. This leads to kids becoming obese.
At school, I have heard students joking that “obesity needs a home.” I understand that people may think this, but should the home really be us? The answer is definitely “no.”
Obesity can lead to heart disease. Sooner or later, kids will be so obese that the future generations will have a smaller population.
I also realize that pizza is actually very tasty and addicting, but kids should realize that their health is the most important. Your life can be taken away just because you don’t eat the right foods.
It’s OK to eat pizza once in a while, but next time you keep eating junk food, think “What will happen if I keep eating like this?”
Natalie Long
