at the bake sale by tiny banquet committee, on Flickr

With the current struggle for funding, many schools depend on fund-raising efforts to keep their music and art programs going. Even so, the once-popular bake sale has come under attack in New York City schools. New York City’s Panel for Educational Policy has approved a new set of rules for bake sales. You can’t bring cookies for sale, or banana bread, or home-popped popcorn. But, you may buy a box of Pop-Tarts or Doritos and resell them. In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, there is an approved list of (industrial) foods from which parents may choose to sell.

The idea is that because the homemade muffins are of different sizes, shapes and composition, the exact calorie count cannot be determined accurately. Food that comes in a package provides a calorie statement on the nutrition label, and therefore the exact portion sizes and nutrition data can be calculated. You kind of have to stand on your head and look out of the corner of your eye to see this logic, but it was the intent of the ruling to control the calories and therefore make a contribution in the fight on childhood obesity.

And a cursory reading of the rule makes some sense:

To qualify as an approved item, a snack must meet 11 criteria developed by the city. For example, all products must be in marked, single-serving packages with a maximum calorie count of 200. Artificial sweeteners, like Splenda, are banned. Less than 35 percent of the item’s total calories may come from either total sugars or fat. Grain-based products must contain at least 2 grams of fiber.

But digging a little deeper, the New York Times asks the right person the right question and truer motives are revealed:

The city’s new vending operator, The Answer Group, will also negotiate with vendors to produce fund-raising kits for students, probably by next September, said the group’s president, Tom Murn.

Then, as if to shift the focus of the issue with a shrug and a wink-wink:

Kathleen Grimm, the deputy chancellor who oversees the regulation, told members of the panel that the permitted snacks were not “necessarily foods we recommend that students eat.”

“We think an apple is the best snack,” she said, generating chuckles from panel members.

Chuckles from panel members. Chuckles?

This is getting out of hand. I can’t make a healthy snack for a school bake sale, but I can buy chemicals-in-plastic and resell them? I hope you will forgive my overactive cynicism gland, but it sounds to me like our schools are so desperate for money that they have opened themselves up to blackmail by the industrial food system. This kind of silly edict has the ring of “cash” more than “nutrition” to me.

As if to add a dash of interest, I find it ironic that this particular rule change is happening now. Weren’t bake sales one of the grassroots efforts which propelled Obama to the White House? What has happened that the bake sale, and homemade food in general has fallen even further out of favor so very quickly?

In a demonstration that is sure to capture the hearts and taste buds of legislators, one mother has organized a “bake-in” to be held at the New York City Hall on March 18. Elizabeth Puccini, the organizer of the bake-in has been a loud detractor of this policy since its announcement, showing up at meetings and press conferences to try to be a voice of reason.

I applaud Puccini’s efforts and hope City Hall pays close attention to her while they enjoy the homemade treats being brought to them on the 18th. She may not know it, but Elizabeth is a Pro-Food Food Renegade.

This post is part of Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food Renegade.

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