Tag Archives: Cookie

The Tale Of The Illegal Cookie

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The Daily Caller is reporting today on the saga of the famous Elyria pink cookie. The cookie has been a staple in the public schools in Elyria, Ohio, since roughly the Carter Administration. Now the cookie is illegal because it does not meet the nutritional guidelines of the new Smart Snacks standards created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is part of the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, a signature issue of Michelle Obama.

The article reports:

Amy Higgins, a spokeswoman for Elyria City Schools, agreed.

“It’s a tradition,” Higgins told Fox. “It’s not only a tradition. It’s one that tastes really, really good. You’d be surprised by how many people are upset about the pink cookie going away. Anyone who’s gone to Elyria schools in the last 40 years knows the pink cookie.”

Efforts to bring the pink cookie into conformity with federal guidelines have failed.

Teaman, the cafeteria services director, told The Chronicle-Telegram that his staff tried whole-grain flour and less icing, to no avail.

“There is only one way to do the pink cookie, and to do it any other way would not do it justice,” he said.

“It’s not the pink cookie anymore,” Higgins explained. “It doesn’t maintain the integrity of the homemade recipe.”

Mayor Brinda likened an Obama administration-approved pink cookie to “eating diet potato chips.”

The government should not be taking cookies out of schools. I understand that obesity in children is a problem in America, but that is not the government’s responsibility. I would not oppose a program to educate children and parents about nutrition, but I am not sure that this is a matter of education. I do think banning a cookie is not something the government needs to be involved in.

The Fruits Of A Failed Welfare System

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Our government welfare system has failed. It has destroyed the black family and undermined the white family. It has trapped many people into poverty that they are not able to escape. It has convinced many talented and capable people that they cannot be successful and left them poor and discouraged. It has also created in some people the idea that they are entitled. To what are they entitled? Anything they think they should have.

I attended a meeting tonight where one of the issues was collection of electric bills. About six percent of the residents of the city involved are seriously delinquent in payment of their electric bills. Since the electric bills are part of the city government, the city is making an effort to collect some of the debt. The proposed method of collection involves deposits to be paid over a period of time and payment of overdue bills. The alternative method would be to forgive the debt and raise the rates on everyone–including the people who routinely pay their bills.

The meeting was packed with people complaining that they could not pay their electric bills or the deposit and did not want their electricity turned off. It really doesn’t work that way. We have government programs that provide a safety net for poor people. We provide food stamps, public housing, rent assistance, etc.

I have run out of patience. I am reminded of the book “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” by Laura Numeroff.

Wikipedia describes the book:

The book is known for its playful, circular pattern. A boy gives a cookie to a mouse. The mouse asks for a glass of milk. He then requests a straw (to drink the milk), a mirror (to avoid a milk mustache), nail scissors (to trim his hair), and a broom (to sweep up). Next he wants to take a nap, to have a story read to him, to draw a picture, and to hang the drawing on the refrigerator. Looking at the refrigerator makes him thirsty, so the mouse asks for a glass of milk. The circle is complete when he wants a cookie to go with it.

I do have compassion for the poor, but I am not convinced that anything we are currently doing to help them is actually helpful. There are many poor people who are very capable of success. Somehow we have to teach them this and give them the tools to achieve success. The War on Poverty has created generations of people who, because they are paid to do nothing, are denied the opportunity to accomplish something. That needs to end.