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Already more than 1,250 schools have switched to single-serving bottles.

Those damn square containers are awfully hard for kids," says New Hampshire Agriculture Commissioner Steve Taylor, who has watched the trend spread to some 320 schools in New England. "Teachers say you can spend the whole lunch period just walking around and opening those containers."

While the growing use of bottles in schools can partly be attributed to ease — educators say plastic caps are easier for children to open, and round bottles fit better in their hands — marketing savvy deserves at least as much credit.

Several years ago the milk industry decided its boxes were not visually competitive when sold alongside the relatively sexy bottles of juice and soda increasingly common in schools.

So far it has been worth it. Matson says schools that made the switch now are buying 20% more milk.

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Bottles of soda and juice are HOT.
 

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Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
 
And if you buy a single-serving of milk at a convienance store you will find that the paper box and the plastic bottle hold the exact same amount of milk but the bottle is almost twice as much money.
 

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Posted by Vána (Member # 6593) on :
 
I'm behind anything that gets kids to drink more milk. And, they can toss the bottles in the recycle bin along with the pop bottles!
 

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Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
 
When I was a kid, I never had any trouble opening milk cartons. But I had learned and practiced at home on the half gallon sized ones.

I pity the kids now...what launcher will they have for their peas? We used to fold the top edge over flat, then poke the pouring spout back down. Place a pea (or other small food item) on the spout, aim, and squeeze the side of the carton to fire.

Now they'll have to risk getting caught when the monitor sees their arm go up.
 

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Posted by WheatPuppet (Member # 5142) on :
 
I don't get it... why are paper cartons hard to open? I never had a problem with them when I was a kid.

I'm against plastic bottles becuase plastic recycles so poorly and takes more resources to make. At least milk cartons burn fairly cleanly. Why not washable plastic cups that can be filled in the cafeteria?
 

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Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
Dead Horse, never fear! A fork makes an excellent pea launcher. Place the fork flat on the table with the tines curving up. Place the pea on the end of the handle. Bring palm or fist down rapidly onto tines. Pea will launch at approximately the optimum angle of 45 degrees.

[ January 01, 2005, 07:33 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
 

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Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
 
Yeah, but I know in my town the only utensils they can give us are sporks. They served these weird things in elementary school that no one could cut up with a spork, so the volunteer ladies would have to go around and cut them up for kids because we weren't even allowed plastic knives.
 

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Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
 
*kills R rated thoughts*
 

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Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
 
FINALLY!!! I hated those milk cartons. Especially when you got the defective one that just peel off the outer layer of paper when you tried to open it and you were stuck with a thin sheet of whatever those things are made of between you and your milk. VIVA PLASTIC BOTTLES!!!
 

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