A Half-Baked Sale

New York City recently passed a regulation banning bake sales from public schools with the exception of one per month and after 6 PM (when no one is around). So what’s left to sell? Doritos, pop-tarts, bags of cookies and other processed junk-food permitted by the Department of Education. Instead of home-baked items prepared with love, care and admittedly, a bit of sugar, children will be left with the choice of factory-prepared, chemical laden “food-like products” with advertisements plastered all over the packaging.

Eric Goldstein, chief executive of School Food and Transportation for the Department of Education, defends the plan to the New York Times as “one piece in a holistic wellness puzzle,” stating that 40 percent of the city’s 1.1 million school children are obese or overweight. But did these children become overweight from eating their parents’ baked goods? Overwhelming evidence gathered from research on food deserts, school lunch programs and home-cooking would argue otherwise. In fact, it’s that industrialized junk food that started Americans down the path of obesity.

Allowing junk food to be the sole snack option outside of lunch further encourages the bad habits of already-confused children and teens about what foods they should eat. Rather than urging parents to provide healthier options, the Department of Education has once-again bowed to the interests of large corporations and circumvented the “healthy food” discussion altogether. This regulation allows for heavy advertising throughout the schools by corporations such as Kellogg and Pepsi Cola setting the course for a lifetime of irresponsible food decisions.

Parents, children and other concerned individuals will not take this issue sitting down. NYC Green Schools has organized a “Bake-In” and rally at City Hall on Thursday, March 18^th from four to six.  Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio and Council Member Gale Brewer will attend the rally and Brewer will re-introduce the regulation for appeal on March 25^th. With enough support, there is hope that home-baked goods will once again be the focus of the bake sale and children will be spared the further bombardment of junk and ads.

Sophy Bishop is a Program Assistant for the GRACE food team as well as a food fanatic.