Food Fascists pushing to limit school bake sales...

This is off the charts on the ridiculous scale. What really caught my eye is that many school districts are already complying with this idiotic mindset. But that's easily remedied if enough irate parents put down the remote and start getting involved with their school board. My comments are in bold italics & parentheses: (H/T to Adriennes Catholic Corner)



Hold the brownies! Bill could limit bake sales
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Don't touch my brownies! A child nutrition bill on its way to President Barack Obama — and championed by the first lady — gives the government power to limit school bake sales and other fundraisers that health advocates say sometimes replace wholesome meals in the lunchroom. (IMO children are like the Mr. Fusion device mounted atop the DeLorean in "Back To The Future". Just fill that pup up with junk and watch it go nuclear! Kids are the same way. No I'm not a nutritionist, just a retired mechanic. But I've eyes in my head and a fairly good memory.)

Republicans, notably Sarah Palin, and public school organizations decry the bill as an unnecessary intrusion on a common practice often used to raise money.

"This could be a real train wreck for school districts," Lucy Gettman of the National School Boards Association said Friday, a day after the House cleared the bill. "The federal government should not be in the business of regulating this kind of activity at the local level."

The legislation, part of first lady Michelle Obama's campaign to stem childhood obesity, (Big surprise, our fatassed First Lady is trying to dictate to other parents how to raise their kids. Someone should warn her not to dispense with advice until her own are fully grown and safely out of the house.) provides more meals at school for needy kids, including dinner, and directs the Agriculture Department to write guidelines to make those meals healthier. The legislation would apply to all foods sold in schools during regular class hours, including in the cafeteria line, vending machines and at fundraisers.

It wouldn't apply to after-hours events or concession stands at sports events. (That'll be next. Goodbye halftime hot dogs, hello tofu burgers.)

Public health groups pushed for the language on fundraisers, which encourages the secretary of Agriculture to allow them only if they are infrequent. The language is broad enough that a president's administration could even ban bake sales, but Secretary Tom Vilsack signaled in a letter to House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., this week that he does not intend to do that. (He might not. Is there anything that insures a successor won't amend the rules?) The USDA has a year to write rules that decide how frequent is infrequent.

Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest says the bill is aimed at curbing daily or weekly bake sales or pizza fundraisers that become a regular part of kids' lunchtime routines. She says selling junk food can easily be substituted with nonfood fundraisers. (Such as what? I don't see any alternatives being suggested. Not even a good straw man argument here.)

"These fundraisers are happening all the time," Wootan said. "It's a pizza sale one day, doughnuts the next... It's endless. This is really about supporting parental choice. Most parents don't want their kids to use their lunch money to buy junk food. They expect they'll use their lunch money to buy a balanced school meal." (What planet does she come from anyway? What school has these many fundraisers going on, one right after the other? As for parents expecting little Johnny/Sally to buy "a balanced school meal", it seems to me that said parents will have a fair idea of what their little darling is going to purchase and don't want a food cop interfering. State-provided nannies are neither desired nor required!)

Not all see it that way.

Palin mocked the efforts last month by bringing a plate of cookies to a school speech in Pennsylvania. Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, said the federal government "has really gone too far" when it is deciding when to hold bake sales. (No shit Sherlock!)

Some parents say they are perplexed by what the new rules might allow.

In Seminole, Fla., the Seminole High Warhawks Marching Band's booster club held a bake sale to help send the band's 173 members to this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York. One of the bake sale's specialties: New York-style cheesecake, an homage to the destination they'd pursued for 10 years.

"Limiting bake sales is so narrow-minded," said Laura Shortway, whose 17-year-old daughter, Mallory, is a drummer in the band. "Having bake sales keeps these fundraisers community based, which is very appealing to the person making the purchase."

Several school districts and state education departments already have policies suggesting or enforcing limits on bake sales, both for nutritional reasons and to keep the events from competing for dollars against school cafeterias. In Connecticut, for instance, about 70 percent of the state's school districts have signed on to the state education department's voluntary guidelines encouraging healthy foods in place of high-sugar, high-fat options.

Under those rules, bake sales cannot be held on school grounds unless the items meet nutrition standards that specifically limit portion sizes, fat content, sodium and sugars. That two-ounce, low-fat granola bar? Probably OK, depending what's in it. But grandma's homemade oversized brownie with cream cheese frosting and chocolate chips inside? Probably not. (It's for reasons like this I'm glad I no longer live in the People's Republic of Connecticut. But hey, those guidelines are voluntary which means a fair number of parents have the say so on it. If that's how they want to roll, good on 'em. Meanwhile, somebody send me Granny's Oversized Brownie Recipe.)

One loophole in Connecticut: The nutritional standards apply if the food is being sold at a bake sale, but not if it's being given away free, such as by a parent for a child's birthday.

"If a mom wants to send in cupcakes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, that would not be subject to the state guidelines," said Thomas Murphy, a spokesman for the state's education department.

In New York City, a rule enacted in 2009 allows bake sales only once a month, and they must comply with nutritional standards and be part of a parent group fundraiser. (And some people wonder why theres an exodus out of the Northeast to points south. This might be an indication why.)

Wootan says she hopes the rules will prompt schools to try different options for fundraising.

"Schools are so used to doing the same fundraisers every year that they need a strong nudge to do something new," she says. "The most important rebuttal to all of these arguments is that schools can make money other ways — you don't have to harm kids health." (Oh good grief! Does this Food Fascista think little Johnny is going to flat line over a few fat pills? I know, it's a stupid question. And once again I'll note she doesn't have any concrete suggestions, just vague assertions.)

Honestly, are supporters of this crap so brain dead they don't think parents can responsibly raise their kids to eat more or less balanced meals without outside help? How did millions of kids over the past few hundred years make it to adulthood in this nation without suffering lifelong, nutritional-based health problems?

Here's a thought. Let's scrap all the school cafeterias and let the parents start making their kids lunches at home while at the same time they stop funding their child's every whim & fancy. Think of the potential money saved as our educational institutions get out of the food business. Think of how the parents will learn a little more about their kids (Mom, you give me tofu one more time and I'm heading for the bell tower!). Think of how little Johnny/Sally will be forced to eat the homemade meals or go hungry. Maybe it'll encourage them to take responsibility and make their own! What a concept, fostering family unity, fiscal responsibility, childhood independence all in one swipe.

And we get rid of the Food Fascists. That's assuming they don't start inspecting the meals brought from home, which I have to admit is a real possibility in this Bizarro world.