Where Did All the Baked Goods Go?

By CARLY LAPIDUS and NIKKI BERRIN

Earlier in the school year, Jericho High School enacted new policies in accordance with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding the sale of baked goods during school hours. The new policies are a result of the implementation of the legislation under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act which places limits on ingredients in the food products sold in schools in an effort to make choices more healthy. The goals of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act are to provide healthy meal options for low-income students and to fight childhood obesity. In addition, even in schools with low poverty levels, districts must comply with these guidelines to be eligible for federal subsidies, as is the case with the Jericho Union Free School District.

With the roll-out of this plan, the student body was in an uproar, as bake sales would no longer be allowed in the high school cafeteria. In an effort to regulate the proportion of unhealthy ingredients sold during the school day, bake sales are now limited to before and after school hours only. Instead of the baked goods usually sold in the cafeteria, healthy alternatives such as prepackaged fruits and vegetables are used to fundraise under the new laws. Given that a lucrative source of revenue for clubs came from bake sales, many are now left scrambling to find alternative ways to raise money.

According to Kids Club and Youth Decide president senior Sara Salmonson, “When students first heard of the ban on bake sales, everyone complained. No one understood why it had to be a full out ban rather than a regulation. The ban has made fundraising so much harder because now we have nothing to sell that students can buy at a low price for us to still reap the benefits.”

Video Yearbook was another one of the many clubs that needed to change course after the law was implemented. Editor-in-Chief Giulia Milana said, “We were going to hold a cupcake wars event to raise money for the video yearbook. Unfortunately, we were forced to cancel this event and had to come up with another fundraising idea which was pretty tough. As a result, we decided to bring in an XBOX and have FIFA matches during lunch periods. It was a success, but we did not bring in as much money as we would have if we had been able to go through with cupcake wars.”

Junior Scope, a club that raises money for Cohen Children’s Medical Center, was able to come up with a unique fundraising idea following the implementation of the ban. Club Adviser Mrs. Flockhart said, “Junior Scope is now making more of a difference for our cause by doing other types of activities. In place of bake sales we have sold jewelry for pediatric cancer, and held an arts and crafts drive to donate to the hospital. We are also planning on doing a walk with the Ronald McDonald Charities later this year.”

Though students may be upset with the outcome of this law, it seems that there is no course of action clubs can take other than to be more creative with fundraising ideas.