The nutrition bill may limit bake sales

[JohnSmith2007 353]

Hold the brownies! Bill could limit bake sales

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press – 9 mins ago

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.

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, 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.

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. 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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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."

___

Associated Press writer Stephanie Reitz contributed to this report from Hartford, Conn.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_bake_sales

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

One of the last few things Americans are good at making...bake sales. Obama will win yet.

[trillium13 84]

I've seen news stories in the past where bake sales have already been prohibited in schools.

Do schools still have vending machines full of #######? When I was in school we didn't have those, but I've heard of them in more recent years.

Personally I think they should worry less about bake sales and more about the ####### lunches they serve in schools every single day.

[Jenn! 918]

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."

A balanced school meal? Ha. Here's an idea - why don't you pack a healthy lunch for your kid rather than giving them 4 bucks to buy #######?

[peejay 327]

Are people really so stupid that they need a federal law and the government to hold them by the friggin' hand to tell them what to eat or lead them to it?

The food sucked so bad when I was in school that I brought a sack lunch to school during my stint in Houston public schools. Ever try to eat crunchy rice or noodles (undercooked)? How about frozen soyburgers in a bun cooked in a toaster oven that were still frozen on the inside and hard as a brick on the outside with the paper wrapper burned onto the bun? Yummy!

I'm sure all of the above menu was nutritionally approved according to standards of the day, but if you have idiots or lazy bums working in the cafeteria...there you have it.

So I woke up in the morning and packed a lunch for school. All without the help of Obama, the federal government, and the nanny state.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Are people really so stupid that they need a federal law and the government to hold them by the friggin' hand to tell them what to eat or lead them to it?

The food sucked so bad when I was in school that I brought a sack lunch to school during my stint in Houston public schools. Ever try to eat crunchy rice or noodles (undercooked)? How about frozen soyburgers in a bun cooked in a toaster oven that were still frozen on the inside and hard as a brick on the outside with the paper wrapper burned onto the bun? Yummy!

I'm sure all of the above menu was nutritionally approved according to standards of the day, but if you have idiots or lazy bums working in the cafeteria...there you have it.

So I woke up in the morning and packed a lunch for school. All without the help of Obama, the federal government, and the nanny state.

Are you seriously criticizing the SEIU members that made your lunches? Stop doing things for yourself you wacko Libertarian!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

A balanced school meal? Ha. Here's an idea - why don't you pack a healthy lunch for your kid rather than giving them 4 bucks to buy #######?

Very Libertarian of you! Congratulations. I STILL pack a lunch to work every day. Saves me enough for a car payment if I hadn't already saved enough to pay cash for my car, and better food too.

[SuperDuper! 230]

A balanced school meal? Ha. Here's an idea - why don't you pack a healthy lunch for your kid rather than giving them 4 bucks to buy #######?

parents get very busy. Reality sets in. No time to carefully pack lunches for kids everyday. Time is always running short in the morning getting yourself and the crumb crunchers ready to go out the door every morning, so giving lunch money is just a practical consideration. Can you grasp this, or will a political analysis help?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

parents get very busy. Reality sets in. No time to carefully pack lunches for kids everyday. Time is always running short in the morning getting yourself and the crumb crunchers ready to go out the door every morning, so giving lunch money is just a practical consideration. Can you grasp this, or will a political analysis help?

How about someone grasping the fact that CHILDREN COME FIRST! Jeeezum. Then you get your @ss out of bed 15 minutes earlier and make them a lunch or you go to bed 15 minutes later or you arrive at work 15 minutes late and say it was because I was caring for kids and if you don't like it kiss my @ss!

Giving lunch money is a "practical consideration" if it is YOUR money given to YOUR kids. This is about MY money being taken from my paycheck before I get it and given to YOUR kids. No thanks. Your practical considerations and choices should end when you can't PAY for them.

Typical lame-@ss liberal now has an excuse why someone else should pay for their kids' lunch so they can sleep a little longer.

[SuperDuper! 230]

How about someone grasping the fact that CHILDREN COME FIRST! Jeeezum. Then you get your @ss out of bed 15 minutes earlier and make them a lunch or you go to bed 15 minutes later or you arrive at work 15 minutes late and say it was because I was caring for kids and if you don't like it kiss my @ss!

Giving lunch money is a "practical consideration" if it is YOUR money given to YOUR kids. This is about MY money being taken from my paycheck before I get it and given to YOUR kids. No thanks. Your practical considerations and choices should end when you can't PAY for them.

Typical lame-@ss liberal now has an excuse why someone else should pay for their kids' lunch so they can sleep a little longer.

easier said than done gary. when you get 3 kids under the same roof, and have to get them bathed, dressed, fed, and lunches packed BEFORE 7am, M-F, it's exhausting to do on a daily basis. try it sometime if you dare. walk a mile in OUR shoes, THEN say just get up 15 minutes earlier. we can't all live the charmed life as you say.

BOING!

Edited December 4, 2010 by Boing!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

My son's school forbids the kids from bringing anything made with peanuts. They say it's because some children are severely allergic to peanuts, but I think that's just a cover to a communist plot to turn the kids into Obama zombies.

[trillium13 84]

My son's school forbids the kids from bringing anything made with peanuts.

How did this all start? When I was a kid I don't remember kids having all these allergy issues.

I'm not that old, but get off my lawn anyway.

[SuperDuper! 230]

Gary, you have some good ideas here, but you don't address if you have 3 young kids that you have to dress, feed and prepare a lunch for every day, M-F before 7am, and then prepare yourself for work every day. We assume you get up everyday and go to work, 'cause you are so smart.... But we don't feel that you have the family life experience of getting a family of young kids getting to school everyday. It's great you refer how the latest politics come into play, but can you say you are in charge of 3 kids getting to school everyday? If not, your argument in moot. Can you grasp what we are saying here? More power to you brother!

Edited December 4, 2010 by Boing!

[lostinblue 1,989]

Gary, you have some good ideas here, but you don't address if you have 3 young kids that you have to dress, feed and prepare a lunch for every day, M-F before 7am, and then prepare yourself for work every day. We assume you get up everyday and go to work, 'cause you are so smart.... But we don't feel that you have the family life experience of getting a family of young kids getting to school everyday. It's great you refer how the latest politics come into play, but can you say you are in charge of 3 kids getting to school everyday? If not, your argument in moot. Can you grasp what we are saying here? More power to you brother!

We had five children in our family growing up. Lunches were made the night before school. Our school burned in first grade and everyone brown bagged it for a few years.I guess that made all the difference.You could not buy lunch if you wanted to.

[slim 1,525]

Why is the federal government getting involved with school lunches anyway? When are states going to wise up and throw the fed out?

when you get 3 kids under the same roof, and have to get them bathed, dressed, fed, and lunches packed BEFORE 7am, M-F, it's exhausting to do on a daily basis. try it sometime if you dare. walk a mile in OUR shoes, THEN say just get up 15 minutes earlier. we can't all live the charmed life as you say.

If you're going to b!tch about your kids then don't have them.