Allison Talbot keeps more than homework in her blue notebook.
"This is our petition we started for the state to repeal the foods of minimal nutritional values laws,” Talbot, an eighth-grader at Canyon Vista Middle School, said.
The petition is a response to new rules set by the Texas Department of Agriculture.
"We have 188 signatures so far and we're getting more,” Talbot said.
You won't see candy jars on teachers’ desks or sodas in the lunchroom under the new policy . Students want to amend some of these rules.
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School lunch rules
Students want some leeway when it comes to celebrating during lunch.
 
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"Teachers used to be able to give us chocolate and hard candy for rewards and now they can't do that sort of thing. They're not allowed to let us eat those in other classrooms and now they have to come up with alternative ways to reward us for good work,” Talbot said.
There is a new exception to new school food rules. The Texas Department of Agriculture gave the OK for sweets at birthday parties, but not during lunch. Middle school students say this exception doesn't do them any good."
"We used to be able to bring stuff on our birthdays to share with our friends. Now we're not allowed to bring chocolate or hard candy. We just don't think those are very fair,” Talbot said.
"You know in elementary school your parents used to bring cupcakes to school for the whole class. Well, at middle school, parents typically bring a pizza or they bring a cake for their friends to share at lunch … We can't do that any longer,” Principal Lisa Napper said.
The agriculture commissioner said the exception is written around lunch because that's the most important time to promote healthy eating.
And while students may not mind juice instead of soda at lunch, they'd like to see a few more bends in the rules.
"I want our kids to feel like they have a voice at school and in their city and in our state,” Napper said.
The students have 188 signatures so far, including a few teachers. They plan to send their petition to the Department of Agriculture.
No one at the agriculture commissioner's office was available to speak to the media Tuesday.
