Out with bake sales!

Yahoo! New York City schools have outlawed most bake sales! That's a million kids who won't be raising funds in an unhealthy way anymore.

The New York Times recently reported that the Department of Ed will use a variety of ways to limit how much sugar and fat students consume while they're at school. Not only are bake sales out, but vending machines that have sugar-laden drinks and high fat snacks will also be swapped out for those carrying low-sugar granola bars.

It never made sense to me that parents would bring in doughnuts and muffins at 9 am for kids to celebrate a class book reading party or completion of a project. Have you ever seen the cafeteria food? Or looked at what's available in the vending machines? No wonder 40% of the kids suffer from overweight or obesity. I'm glad Mayor Bloomberg and his school chancellor are paying attention. (I hope they'll soon begin to look at curriculum more closely, too.)

It is my hope that more preschools and elementary schools will look to have healthy toy and book sales now, as an alternative to unhealthy bake sales. (shameless plug: contact me to do a fundraiser).