Will it be a Crime to Sell Cookies on School Property?
No, we’re not talking about pot brownies here. The baked goods in question are simply that – baked goods. Classic chocolate chip cookies and apple pie and chunky fudge brownies. You know, the stuff every kid loves, and the stuff every mother uses as a bribe in order to get kids to eat their brussel sprouts.
What has been termed “the great bake sale debate” has finally passed the Michigan House of Representatives 66 – 43, and will now return to the Senate for a concurrence vote on changes made by the House. A bake sale debate? What could possibly be up for debate about bake sales? After all, they are a time-honored tradition of schools and after school clubs across the nation. Sounds crazy, right?
Let’s break it downâŚ..
According to the House Fiscal Agency, Michigan children have a problem with obesity. And apparently our issue is worse than the national average. In fact, the Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center has current statistics showing that “35 percent of Michigan boys, and 30 percent of Michigan girls are overweight or obese.”
In 2010, Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which challenged the department of agriculture to end obesity in the nation. How were they supposed to accomplish such a feat, you may wonder? Why, school food, of course!
Beginning on July 1, 2014, all schools participating in the National School Lunch Program had to follow new nutrition standards, which included being in compliance with a category called “smart snacks”. Â And what is a smart snack? Well, according to US law, a smart snack is any food sold on school premises, during the school day, that is intended for immediate consumption.
So, no more junk food or soda in the vending machine down the hall. In essence, not a bad thing. But wait, there’s more. Current smart snacks standards allow state governments to implement a fixed number of food fundraiser exemptions. In other words, food sold on school property that doesn’t meet the nutritional standards (like brownies and cookies sold in fundraising bake sales) can be limited by state law.
Michigan’s current limit is zero. Which means that schools and Boy Scout troops and after school soccer clubs may sell as many cookies to students as they can. Unless Senate Bill 139 goes through. In which case that limitation will change.
Under the proposed law, the Michigan Department of Education will be required to limit both the number and frequency of school-based fund-raising activities that sell food and drinks that don’t meet national nutrition requirements.
So, what do you think?