Is Congress saying no to bake sales?

It's a fundraising staple - the Bake Sale. It doesn't matter what you're selling for, a bake sale will always do good. I mean anybody can go and buy a $2 brownie at a grocery store, but will it taste as good as Mrs. Smith's homemade double fudge extra large size brownie? There has been much debate on Capital Hill however on the "healthiness" of bake sales.

It's no secret that childhood obesity is the "agenda" of first lady Michelle Obama. She's constantly on the Disney channel with messages about exercising and eating right. Her and the president have even dared to call their daughters "over weight" in some interviews. Whether she was the driving force in this 220 page bill known as the "Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010" or a congress that wants to have healthcare under the care of the government, it shows that the government, thinks we have to define what an American is, should act like and should look like. I've said it in previous posts - the government doesn't want to care for fat people in their new health insurance plan - this is one of the many steps they see to control us to be skinny.

Basically my understanding of the bill is that bake sales, pizza fundraisers, pie fundraisers, cookie dough etc. are okay because they are after school and not on school grounds. But anything that is during school hours and on school grounds can be considered to fattening to feed the children. This includes vending machines, and there is also language in the bill of what type of milk should be offered, so pop machines and juice machines may get nixed also. I don't know if they still do it, but when I was in high school a cooking class learned how to make doughnuts and would sell them in the morning a couple times a year - no more doughnuts under this bill.

Which does bring the question, how will this affect our schools breakfast program? Throughout the month of January you can have a couple different types of donuts, pop-tarts, and muffins. Do these technically fit nutritional standards? But then again, why can't we let our kids, in a controlled setting (which school is) eat a food because they enjoy it? After all, since these bake sales are only regulated during school hours the kids have to bring the money to enjoy the food, so it's probably money they saved or worked for. Is that not a good life lesson to teach - that money you saved or worked for can be spent as you deem fit, but when it's gone, it's gone?

The next question is how long is it going to be before Congress says any food on school grounds should meet health requirements because kids at basketball games are getting fat from the pizza? That the after school fundraisers of cookie dough and pies allow fattening foods to be brought into children's homes and they could become obese?

I have no problem with the government helping to provide healthier meals to the children of the United States, especially in some places where these are the only meals these children might get. I do however have a problem with saying no to the occassional Mrs. Smith's oversized over chocolatey ooey gooey brownie, because like girl scout cookies, I get once a year to look forward to it.

For anyone that is looking for the specific language of the bill in question here, it can be found at the link above and the wording is found on page 98 starting with lines one through six - (B) APPLICATION.--The nutrition standards shall apply to all foods sold-- ''(i) outside the school meal programs; ''(ii) on the school campus; and ''(iii) at any time during the school day. and page 99, lines three through ten: ''(IV) special exemptions for school-sponsored fundraisers (other than fundraising through vending machines, school stores, snack bars, a la carte sales, and any other exclusions determined by the Secretary), if the fundraisers are approved by the school and are infrequent within the school."