Monday, June 19, 2006

Does Barrios Hate Childhood?

No, probably not. But he does want Massachusetts schools to ban a staple of many New England childhoods, Fluff.

Says the AP:


Sen. Jarrett Barrios was so outraged his son Nathaniel, a third-grader, was given a peanut butter and Fluff sandwich at the King Open School in Cambridge, he said he plans to file legislation to outlaw the marshmallow spread in school lunch programs.

Seriously though, the job of public schools is to promote education and prepare children for responsible living in our modern world. I believe that promoting healthy living in children is also a duty of public schools.

One could argue that it's up to the parents to do this, and I would agree that they have the primary responsibility. But if an elementary school child is away from their parents and given the choice of eating a plain peanut butter sandwich versus or a peanut butter and Fluff, what child in her/his right mind would take the former?

I'm not saying that all junk food needs to be banned in school, and certainly there's a place for pizza parties or Halloween candy exchanges, but creamy marshmallows shouldn't be promoted as part of a well-rounded diet.

However, Andy has a good point at Mass Revolution Now!