Massachusetts Banning Bake Sales From Public Schools

If you live in Massachusetts, say good-bye to those PTA and booster club bake sales.

In the latest bid to combat childhood obesity, starting August 1st, the state will be banning bake sales from public schools. The ban is a part of the state "no-nonsense nutrition standards" that also aim to ban junk food from cafeterias and vending machines.

The Departments of Public Health and Education contend clearing tables of even whole milk and white bread is necessary to combat an obesity epidemic affecting a third of the state’s 1.5 million students. But parents argue crudites won’t cut it when the bills come due on athletic equipment and band trips.

“If you want to make a quick $250, you hold a bake sale,” said Sandy Malec, vice president of the Horace Mann Elementary School PTO in Newtonville.

Maura Dawley of Scituate said the candy bars her 15-year-old son brought to school to help pay for a youth group trip to Guatemala “sold like wildfire.” She worries the ban “would seriously affect the bottom line of the PTOs.

“The goal is to raise money,” Dawley said. “You’re going to be able to sell pizza. You’re not going to get that selling apples and bananas. It’s silly.”

These parents got it right. Bake sales work because everyone loves sweets, it's a quick and effective way to raise money for these organizations who need the money. And unless these groups get really creative with their fundraising, they're going to lose a lot of money in the next school year.

But more than that, it's another example of an overzealous state trying to control what goes into kids' stomachs. This whole thing has "Michelle Obama" written all over it.