Apparently, the Elyria, Ohio
school district made a darn good cookie. So good, these
pink-frosted confections were declared Cleveland’s “Best Cafeteria
Cookie” a few years ago. This back-to-school season, though,
federal food police decided to put an end to the award-winning
treat. Now, the plan to keep people away from their sweets seems to
have backfired: People from around the U.S. (and even Canada!) are
demanding the cookie.
The
bad news, which The Chronicle-Telegram broke last
week:
[A federal] edict calling for school districts to provide more
fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains to students
along with fewer calories, fat and cholesterol has resulted in the
loss of the pink cookie.“We can’t have them in the cafeteria for sale, period,” said
Scott Teaman, food services director with Sodexo Inc., the
district’s contracted food provider. “The guidelines for snacks are
very strict, and there is no wiggle room.”It’s not surprising the pink cookie does not meet the revamped
food guidelines. Much about it hasn’t changed in nearly four
decades — that’s how long the pink cookie was on the menu.
A local ABC affiliate
explains that “the cookie, which contains real butter, exceeded
the number of calories allowed per a la carte item, according to
the National School Lunch Program.”
The bakers refused to change the recipe, and even Elyria’s mayor
stood by them:
You can’t change the recipe of the pink cookie. It’s like eating
diet potato chips. It’s not right. … I grew up eating them. They
are a comfort food. It’s one of those things that’s special to our
community.
If the feds thought that by banning the pink cookie in school
they’d prevent people from gobbling them down, they were wrong. The
bakers are still permitted to take special orders, and the chorus
of dismay at demise of
“the perfect cookie” has grown from local “cult followers” to
nationwide curious sweet-tooths, and demand has skyrocketed.
“The [school] district has received at least 100 calls and
emails from Illinois, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, Montana and
Canada from people who want to taste or have something to say
about” the cookie,
according to yesterday’s Telegram.
The district is now trying to figure out the logistics of
shipping the cookies around the country, but won’t begin baking
until after Labor Day. They’re also thinking about making the
cookie smaller, so that it contains less calories, and can be
reintroduced at the school.
In case you want to make your own cookies in defiance of federal
nannying, or you just want to know if it lives up to the hype,
here’s the recipe.
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1tP6TCr
via IFTTT