I. Love. Girl Scout Cookies.
So when I stumble across a story about a troop leader not wanting to sell them (gasp!), I have to share it with hopes others can empathize.
Recently, the
Los Angeles Times reported that an Orange County Girl Scout troop will not be selling Girl Scout cookies. Instead, Monica Serratos of Ladera Ranch and her Daisy Troop 2753 will display a Girl Scouts 100th anniversary “cake” made of fruit Friday at the Orange County Fair.
Serratos, 31, wants to draw attention to the fact the cookies aren’t good for children who are already eating too many sweets as it is, she told the Times.
Thanks, Mom, ahem, Monica.
This spring, Serratos asked parents to discuss with their daughters whether to opt out of selling the beloved cookies.
Many parents were pretty supportive, but then there was a little mutiny, as well. One parent who preferred for her daughter to get the full Girl Scout experience complete with cookie sales, broke off from the group and started her own troop, the Times reported.
Who'd want to take away this experience? (AP/Matt Slocum)Serratos asked Girl Scout officials to sell fruit cakes in lieu of cookies to raise money in June but was told no.
Said Girl Scouts communications manager Emilie Perkins in an email to the Times: “Girl Scout Daisy troops may not participate in fundraisers outside our product sales programs (cookie and fall product sales), which have age-appropriate skill-building curriculum for Daisies.”
As a former Girl Scout who almost made it to Cadette, I so looked forward to cookie season. Who would want to deprive the Girl Scouts of selling Girl Scout cookies? (Or deprive grown-up enthusiasts of bee-lining it to outdoor stands and participating coworker parents to sign up for their annual cookie stashes?)
Keebler knows the gold mine of these goods. The snack maker developed its own recipe of Girl Scout-like cookies, such as Grasshoppers (Thin Mints) and Coconut Dreams (Samoas), made available year-round in your local grocery store.
Because it’s not enough that there’s only a small window of opportunity each year to buy the originals. And worse that the boxes seem smaller, the cookies fewer and the prices higher.
The ironic part about this whole story is that Serratos happens to be in the business of making confections. She was a baker on “Cupcake Wars” and even delivered her creations to the Academy Awards, the Times reported.
But she just felt like everyone’s kids were eating too many sweets on too many occasions — “That all adds up.”
That’s fair enough for her child. But for everyone else?
And at the Daisy level, no less. There’s a cookie business leaf badge for Daisies and, down the Girl Scout road, badges for healthy-ish eating and fitness. Let’s keep with that.
