Half term Governor Sarah Palin gave a speech at a fundraiser for a private school in Pennsylvania, and her remarks caused some "controversy". Which is exactly what they were designed to do. Imagine that.
Palin kicked off "cookiegate" (gag) by decrying a proposed ban on cookies in schools which the evil government (read: the democratically elected state government of Pennsylvania) is planning to implement. This totalitarian rule will be enforced by the Sugar Stasi, who will roam the halls confiscating anything that isn't whole grain, low fat and free of taste. Violators will be punished with plates of steamed lima beans, which is better than those monsters deserve!
Well, not quite. You see, the state government is thinking about possibly voting on recommendations to schools, which would encourage them to limit the sweets offered at in class parties, and to encourage them to offer health snacks too. There is no "ban" of any kind. There are no penalties for not following the guidelines.
We can debate the impact of such guidelines. My guess would be that they wouldn't amount to much, especially since a lot of effort has already been made by some parents to provide healthier foods at these occasions. Given that these are free guidelines meant to encourage healthy eating, the worst we can probably say is that they will have no effect. Whatever we think, its important to look at the actual facts of the situation before we react.
Amazingly, Palin failed to address the truth or nuance of the situation. Instead, she "liberated" the dangerously underweight kids in the audience by bringing them store bought sugar cookies and then railed against the "nanny state". Her rhetoric was perfectly reasonable and informed:
"I wanted these kids to bring home the idea to their parents for discussion," said Palin. "Who should be making the decisions what you eat, school choice and everything else? Should it be government or should it be the parents? It should be the parents."
Um... Governor Palin. The State DOES decide what a lot of these kids eat. Each of those kids who gets a school provided breakfast or lunch, or who pays for one in the cafeteria, is being served by the state. At an even larger level, a huge portion of most of these kids' (and our) diets are shaped by government agriculture policy, usually in a bad way. If you're really worried about the government's role in the pantry, there are much, much bigger (and fattier) fish to fry.
Furthermore, there is no proposed restriction here on what parents (the citizens who elected the government who is making these rules) can give to their kids. None.
The best part of all this: this was a private school. Even if cupcakes, sweets and cookies were outright banned by the public school system, it wouldn't effect ability of the kids at this institution to stuff their pie holes until the Type 2 kicked in. Just as Adam Smith intended.
No comments:
Post a Comment