SPECIAL FEATURES:
Email
Baked goods outlawed at bake sales
New York City schools say no to zucchini bread but yes to Doritos for fundraising.
Thu, Mar 04 2010 at 2:11 PM
Related Topics:
Photo: St. Joseph's/Picasa Web
I’ve been reading a lot of stupid lately. Last week, our home blogger Matt wrote about an Orange County, California, couple who could get sent to jail for planting a drought-tolerant garden on their lawn instead of water-sucking grass. Stupid.
The other day, a tweet pointed me to a piece about the city of Miami possibly banning feeding the homeless unless you have training. They don’t want amateurs giving “up part of their lunch to help someone they meet on the street.” Stupid.
Today, I read that New York City has banned the sales of baked goods at school fund-raising bake sales. The reason? The portion and nutrition size can’t be controlled. Okay, I kind of get that. Here’s what I don’t get. In addition to fruit and vegetables being allowed at bake sales, 27 specific packaged items have been approved including some varieties of Doritos, Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts and a few varieties of granola bars.
There’s no rule, however, that says a student can’t buy two packages of Doritos or five or six. And before you think kids won’t do that, think again. I have been amazed when working my obligatory time at the Little League Field snack shop at how many times the same kid will visit. There have been many times I’ve seen a child buy several bags of snacks and three, four, even five sodas in a two-hour period. I don’t know where they get the money, but they have it and they spend it liberally. I’ve often joked that I feel like I should get arrested for child abuse for how much junk I hand out during my turn.
Anyone who thinks that banning brownies or zucchini bread from a baked sale and selling portion-controlled pre-packaged snacks is going to help anyone but the processed food manufacturers is kidding himself. The intention behind banning foods with portions that can't be controlled may be good, but allowing pre-packaged junk full of chemicals and dyes and little to no nutrition in their place is just stupid.
You know what else is stupid? This takes kids completely out of the loop when it comes to these "bake sales." (I now need to put the term in quotes because it doesn't resemble an actual bake sale.) Kids are no longer able to actually participate in the food-making process. They can't beat the brownie mix or ice the cupcakes. You know what else they can't do? Drive themselves to the big box store which is where parents are going to have to go to buy large quantities of these pre-approved snacks. It teaches kids that food is something to be bought pre-made, not prepared together with family in the kitchen. Stupid.
I’m going to go bang my head against a wall now. Maybe I can knock the stupid out.
The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
You might also like:
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
EDITORS' PICKS
Advertisement
TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON
- Student science experiment finds plants won't grow near Wi-Fi router
- Archaeologists unearth 5,000-year-old 'third-gender' caveman
- 10 false facts most people think are true
- The 9 nastiest things in your supermarket
- Explore 30,000 galaxies in 3 minutes [Video]
- 15 famous people who mysteriously disappeared
- 9 habits that may do more harm than good
- Bras don't actually work, says French study
- Why you should not plant bamboo in your yard
- 5 mind-bending facts about dreams
From our sponsor
NEWSLETTER
ABOUT Robin Shreeves
Stay-at-home mom on eco-friendly food options.
Advertisement
agree absolutely on the danger of taking the kids out of the loop. Food preparation and sharing are basic social actions - where people care for each other. Home made food is not dangerous! It is as American as apple pie.
You told it like it is, no beating around the bush. "Stupid." Yep, those are some great examples of stupid.
I have read the posts concerning the fear of "what is the baked goods" concerning Food Allergies- You need check out the following website for a Food Allergy-Band: www.assureproducts.com They have bands for kids with a Nut, Dairy, or Food Allergy- my son loves it, and it provides assureance for me when he is at school.
Sorry to jump on the allergy band wagon but I have the opposite problem.
My son is allergic to MSG, do you know how many pre-packaged things have MSG in them. Home baked goods would be sooooo much easier as very few people add MSG to the food they make.
You can go to caloricious.com and search for foods with msg.
You can search for "snacks with msg" or "prepared foods with msg" to view which pre-packaged foods have MSG
When the article is CLEARLY stating that the ban has to do with uncontrolled portion sizes and nutritional content, not allergies. That being said, it's still absolutely ridiculous to ban baked goods at a "bake" sale. I'd rather have my kid buy 5 slices of zucchini bread than 1 bag of over-processed Doritos.
How about you take personal responsibility and teach your kid personal responsibility and you just don't buy the stuff.
to get a box of brownie mix and whip it up. It's still good, but you'll find there are those of us out there who can make any cookie from scratch along with pies and cheesecakes, etc. I highly doubt it has anything to do with people's laziness and ignorance in the kitchen.
He's 6. He's been able to recite his list of allergens since 2 and spell them since 5. And I suspect that if you'd read my comment rather than looking to jump on me because you view the food allergic as an inconvenience in some way, you would have noticed that I'm opposed to bans on homebaked goods.
oh yeah pre packed is sooo safe and nutritious!!
It has nothing to do with purchasing items. If you have a 4 year old at school, you cant monitor all day if another kid hands him a knife or a piece of candy that had peanut butter on it. But hey, if 99% of kids aren't allergic, then screw the ones that are I guess. I mean, what's one dead kid out of a classroom full of them?
...and I know its tough....but I'm not sure how only having pre-packaged goods changes this....say that 1 kid gives another kid a home-baked peanut butter cookie. That's a big problem for the child who is allergic. But say that the school has outlawed home-baked goods so, instead, a kid gives another kid a Reese's Butter Cup....same problem.
Then you wouldn't purchase "unknown" stuff in the first place.
You wouldnt think it was crazy if your child was allergic to hidden ingredients in baked goods that aren't marked on the aluminum foil they get wrapped in at home.
...and it's tough to have a child with a life-threatening allergy, but I think its up to those parents to be super=observant....just like you'd look at the Cheetos label. If your child is in the 1% who have serious allergies, then stop him or her from purchasing these goods....just like you've avoid a Snickers bar if you had a peanut allergy. but for the literally 99% who aren't plagued with possible death situations, let us continue to cook and eat home-baked foods.