To the editor,
I'm a mother of three and a business owner! I think the school board's intentions are good, but they're going overboard with this new policy!!!!!
First of all, of my three sons, one of them has a weight problem. It's no fault of the school, his problem is what he eats at home and the lifestyle we live. In elementary school, maybe not for everyone, the students are not allowed to use microwaves. If the kids don't like sandwiches, they can't even take leftovers from last night's supper because they can't heat it up. The kids are going to lose weight all right, because of going hungry!
I own a business in Lake Echo called Quickie Dough. 2004 was a successful year for us supplying prepared cookie dough to the schools for fundraising campaigns. All summer we eagerly awaited the start of the 2005 school year. The new school year is upon us and we're extremely busy, as we thought we would be. All of our products are made from scratch using homemade recipes and no preservatives. I don't know how these products can be called "unhealthy" but it sounds like the school board is going to stop fundraising with such products. Maybe other cookie dough companies have preservatives and other garbage in their dough but ours doesn't! I can't get anyone to answer my phone calls at the school board to tell me if that will fit their criteria. If they stop fundraising campaigns, we're out of business. My employee will be out of a job, the people who I purchase my labels, packaging and supplies from will feel the crunch as well. This will cause a great chain-reaction to many people being out of work. I can understand stopping the sales of chocolate bars because they're certainly not healthy, but cookie dough!? They should stop selling things for the fear people may overindulge. I consider a cookie a wholesome snack. I'm scared for my business! What could be a bright future for Quickie Dough could be squashed! That's my two cents!
By Tish MacDonald Owner, Quickie Dough