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Bye Bye Public School Bake Sales!
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 3, 2009
Modified Oct 3, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 3, 2009
Modified Oct 3, 2009
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Let there be cake! Actually, the Department of Education has the opposite sentiment, and is banishing the age old tradition of school bake sales to the history books. The new regulations will also trim the fat from vending machines, and aims to limit how much sugar and fat students digest during the school day.
This new wellness policy may help with the waistlines, but it will also leave school programs and teams with even less money. Time for a new fund-raising tactic! The assistant principal at the UWS's La Guardia High School says, “There was never any cotton candy or something like that, and there weren’t sales all the time. But they are definitely a way kids count on to get money.”
There is a confusing exception to the baking ban, however; the NY Times reports that Parent groups and Parent-Teacher Associations are "allowed to sell as many dark fudge brownies and lemon bars as they please, so long as lunch has ended. And after 6 p.m. on weekdays, anything goes ... as far as the Education Department is concerned, stuffing oneself with coconut macaroons and peanut butter cookies at that hour is one’s prerogative." Yeah, wash it all down with a milkshake at McDonald's, kids!
Reportedly around 40% of the city's elementary and middle school students are overweight or obese. One nutritionalist told the paper, “Schools are supposed to be a place where we establish a model environment, and the last thing kids need is an extra source of pointless calories.” Somewhere, anti-junk-food mom is rejoicing.
Tagged
bake sales
calories
fund raising
obesity
schools
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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