I have a bit of a bone to pick with the Girl Scouts of America. I know they are well meaning. In fact I admire what they stand for and I support many of their activities. This time of year, however, I always get a little irritated with them, because I’ve had just about enough with their annual cookie sales. Do Americans really need another avenue to pump more processed sugar into their already sugar-stuffed diets?
If Americans only ate a couple of Girl Scout cookies each year – assuming they also ate plenty of fruits and veggies of course - it probably wouldn’t be the end of the world. Sadly, that is not the case. Most of us eat Girl Scout cookies by the boxful and we rarely eat enough of those other nutrient-rich foods like vegetables and fruit. When was the last time you heard of someone saying, “I’m going to put down this box of Samoas so I save enough room for some steamed broccoli?”
I know I probably seem pretty cruel right now – picking a
fight with the Girl Scouts when there are plenty of other processed foods to grumble about, but please, hear me out. Having been a Girl Scout myself,
I feel as though I have some credibility to speak about the issue. I was once
one of those cute little girls you see pictured on the side of the colorful box.
I used to sit at the table in front of the store, selling box after box to as
many folks as I could. You know, for the good of the girls everywhere --
and so I could win a fabulous prize!
I know that the annual cookie drive is how the Girl Scouts sustain their programs, and I give the Girl Scouts a lot of credit for the many wonderful things they are doing in their communities. From a marketing perspective, my hat is off to them. Heck, at this point, it’s practically un-American not to buy a box or two from those cute little girls. I am not suggesting that they scrap the whole cookie business. But can’t they clean up their act a little as far as what they use to make those little yummies?
I know that the annual cookie drive is how the Girl Scouts sustain their programs, and I give the Girl Scouts a lot of credit for the many wonderful things they are doing in their communities. From a marketing perspective, my hat is off to them. Heck, at this point, it’s practically un-American not to buy a box or two from those cute little girls. I am not suggesting that they scrap the whole cookie business. But can’t they clean up their act a little as far as what they use to make those little yummies?
If we have a civic duty to buy them, don’t the Girl Scouts have some sort of civic duty to look out for the health of young girls and all Americans in addition to sustaining their programs? How can they keep selling us processed junk filled with partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin, sodium alginate and all kinds of artificial flavors and colors and call them cookies?
I’ll tell you what Girl Scout cookies aren’t – they are not REAL food… Real food does not have a list of 15 ingredients on the side of a box that can sit on a shelf for two years. The cookies my grandmother baked had flour, sugar, eggs, salt and butter! Girl Scout cookies don’t even come close to resembling my grandmother’s cookies, or yours either I bet…
The Girl Scouts’ mission is to “build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.” I believe in that mission as much now as when I was a Girl Scout myself. In my opinion, they should make those words real by making the world better with some more nutritious, less processed cookies as part of their annual fundraiser – which incidentally hauls in $760 million each year.
That’s a hell of a lot of Girl Scout cookies… just think what a difference it would make if they made some positive changes to their recipe.
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