Ok, I had mixed emotions about the two-month-long cookie sale for our Girl Scout troop. I don’t love the idea of young people out peddling highly processed, sugary food when we already struggle with getting them to eat healthy. But, in the spirit of tradition (and out of fear of the Girl Scout Council), I pushed ahead, stayed positive, kept my issues to myself and we all survived. We counted cookies, set up booths, counted some more, hit up our neighbors, collected money, counted some more and then…we were done! No. More. Cookies!
Then, I received an email from Ellie’s middle school band director. The band’s booster club had chosen a fundraiser to purchase some badly needed equipment and defray the cost for the steel drum band to perform at Disney World. This fundraiser…is…wait for it…selling tubs of raw cookie dough. AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH. Are you kidding me?
First, let me say that I am a huge supporter of PTA’s and school arts programs, especially band programs–how cool is it that we even have a middle school steel drum band? And I am a big fan of our school’s band director–he is amazing and, for patiently teaching all those hormonally charged young people, he probably deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. I contacted the band director immediately and explained our dilemma. Did I say how awesome he is? He is awesome. I suggested that instead of purchasing a vat of cookie dough, we make a family donation to the band boosters to cover the proceeds of what we might have sold. No problem.
Except there is a problem. And that problem is called “sales incentives”. Or as the folks at Entertainment Fundraising call it: the “Extreme Fundraising Prize Pool”. The dazzling array of cheaply produced, made-in-a-sweat-shop goods had Ellie smitten. And, there is some social peer pressure involved. Those of you without children, do not judge. It’s unfathomable the frenzy these cheap prizes cause within a school. So, after a great deal of discussion, we decided to find out what is in the cookie dough, and if it didn’t seem too terrible, we would see if our neighbors wanted any. If there were unpronounceable ingredients or big health issues, we would pass. No problem.
Except there was another problem. And that problem is called “we’re not going to tell you what is in our cookie dough”. Or, as the folks at Entertainment Fundraising call it: “Secret Ingredients”.
After a fruitless online search to find ingredient lists, I called Entertainment Fundraising to see if they could email me a list of ingredients in their cookie dough. In this day of food allergies, that didn’t seem like a crazy request. I spoke with “Charles” about this at length. Our conversation went something like this:
C: This is Charles at Entertainment Fundraising!!!! How can I help you!!!!
Me: Hi Charles, our school band is selling your tubs of cookie dough this spring…
C: Great!!! The cookie dough is super!!!
Me: Yes, well, I’m looking for a list of the ingredients in the different doughs, but I can’t find one online. Can you help me with this?
C: Oh (no more exclamation points). No, we can’t give you the list of ingredients.
Me: Um, ok, why is that?
C: We cannot communicate with anyone except the fundraiser chairperson.
Me: Um, ok, why is that?
C: They have the special code to download information from the website.
Me: Does this information include ingredients?
C: Probably.
Me: But you can’t send it to me?
C: No.
Me: And why is that?
C: Your fundraising chairperson has the special code.
Me: Hmm, well that seems odd, Charles, but I’ll try to get in touch with our fundraising chairperson…
C: Ok, great!!!! And thank YOU for supporting the children!!!
Me: Whatevs.
I thought for sure, I would never see an ingredient list. Then, this morning I received several pdf files from the band director in my email (because he is awesome). Ingredients lists! Overall, the cookie doughs use a lot of partially hydrogenated oils (which by their nature include trans fats), several different kinds of sugar including fructose and some of the cookies include parabens. Being raw cookie dough, they also include preservatives, which is not a huge surprise. I showed the list to some folks I work with and they all agreed that 1) a vat of cookie dough is, in principle, gross and 2) they were not interested in foods with such a high level of fat.
In the end, this has spurred a lot of thinking about how we talk the talk of health with our children, but we really don’t put that into practice when it counts. We tell them to make good choices, then send them out to sell poor choices to other people. As a result of all this, I have made an offer to the PTA to start a Wellness Committee of teachers, parents and students at the school, but haven’t heard back.
But for reals now, I am done with cookies…
yearofhealthierliving 
tuckarella
/ March 21, 2012Our band director had is sell boxes of vidalia onions one year. Most bizarre sales attempt ever. Not nearly as popular as the Krispy Kreme or candy bar promotions. Whatever happened to bands selling boxes of citrus fruit? My folks always bought cases of oranges and grapefruit from every kid who came by.
Year Of Healthier Living
/ March 21, 2012I love the citrus sales!!! No one does that in my town. My idea was to have the steel drum band do a community concert for a fundraiser–nothing to sell but tickets and the band gets a practice performance.
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creativenoshing
/ March 21, 2012Parabens?!! Really! Wow, I wonder how they get around that with the FDA. Yep, I will continue to make my own homemade cookie dough then.
Heather @ SugarDish(Me)
/ March 21, 2012Okay, first of all, I’m gonna need my highly processed sugary food in the form of Samoas, Tagalongs, and Thin Mints. Please. 🙂
Second, I hate the school fundraisers! At my kids middle school the fundraisers are tantamount to extortion. Mrs. PTA (or PTO or whaevuuuur) sets up “fun days”. If your child does not persuade anyone to spend $9 on gummi worms (that are $1 at any convenience store), or $13 on cookie dough (that I can always put to shame AND we can pronounce the ingredients), or $8.50 on flower seeds that arrive too late in the year to plant (unless of course you live in Alaska), they have to sit in class and do extra work while all of the other children participate in fun day. And that is a load of garbage!!! And they never designate where the very small percentage the school makes will go, which makes me suspicious (since the only arts or musical programs offered are in the form of the colored pencils I bought in August). Grrrrr. Can you tell it makes me mad?
At the elementary school they do cake walks and bake sales and fall festivals and school musicals to raise $$. For me, that’s the ticket. Cases of citrus, too 🙂
Year Of Healthier Living
/ March 21, 2012I am with ya’ sista’. It’s a mean racket.
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Choc Chip Uru
/ March 22, 2012You are most definitely right! How many times I have had to go out and sell huge chocolate bars for 1/2 their usual price is beyond me but people buy and eat like crazy – I am glad you are taking a stand for what is right!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Year Of Healthier Living
/ March 22, 2012Thanks for your words of encouragement! It does seem like a silly system.
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G
/ September 21, 2012Hi,
I just spoke to their customer service center, and the conversation went just along the lines of the above. They were willing, however, to search for anything in particular I was interested in. We avoid high fructose corn syrup and partially-hydrogenated oils or for that matter fully-hydrogenated oils. So i asked, and in 3 cookie types asked about, all 3, they informed me, contained partially-hydrogenated oils.
Personally, this is no worse than girl scout cookies, however, we won’t participate in either campaign. I find it incredible we are asked to push products to families with small children, containing these types of ingredients.