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November 10, 2008
Quote of the Week
Nowhere is the criminalization of food more unforgivable than in the 500-600 American school districts that have stringent rules limiting what kids can and can't eat. So the Quote of the Week comes from Sam Cardoza, a senior at California’s Piedmont High School:
“I know obesity is a big problem, and it’s good the school cares. At the same time, you shouldn’t stop a kid from buying a cookie.”
In today's environment, Cardoza is clearly asking for too much. The New York Times reports that due to draconian state measures, “the old-fashioned school bake sale, once as American as apple pie, is fast becoming obsolete in California.”
If you’re a food cop and you believe that “ eating a cupcake is the same as putting a gun in your mouth,” then surely you would advocate for booby-trapping the cookie jar.
We agree with Piedmont’s school paper, which lamented that birthday cakes are being turned into contraband. And given that between 1984 and 2003 student enrollment in PE classes fell from 65 to 28 percent, we wonder if schools wouldn’t be better off focusing on exercise promotion, rather than banning foods that, in some ways, typify blissful childhood.
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