In July of 2008, in response to growing concerns about childhood obesity and health, the FTC released a report about the marketing of foods to children and adolescents. One of the recommendations was that, “all companies that market food and beverage products to children should adopt and adhere to meaningful nutrition-based standards for marketing their products to children under 12.” http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/07/P064504foodmktingreport.pdf

So now we have Disney apples, eggs and avocados. Some folks feel that at least it is better than McDonald’s Happy Meals, sugary snacks and junk food. I’m not so sure. I’m not happy about media-linked products aimed at children. Kids are just too vulnerable. It becomes a popularity contest in the cafeteria and another parent-child area of struggle. It is another way to create brand loyalty, infiltrate our lives and literally eat away at our creativity and independent thinking.

That is why I reminded my friend about Trader Joe’s http://www.traderjoes.com/index.html. Trader Joe’s is a chain of grocery stores that carries almost exclusively its own products (not General Mills or Kellog’s, etc…) From cereal, to yogurt, to snacks and more, you will NOT FIND media-linked food at Trader Joe’s. I go out of my way to shop there. My children read the packaging of our food, and I’m happy because they are reading the nutritional values, not an ad for the latest block-buster movie or television show. I’ve been a fan of Trader Joe’s for a long time because of the good prices and good products, but only after I had children did I truly appreciate the independent nature of this unique grocery store. If you have a Trader Joe’s in your area, I recommend it highly as an antidote to Dora the Explorer yogurt, Finding Nemo fruit snacks, Elmo juice boxes and High School Musical everything!

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So how does this relate to play? Well, the frenzy which NCLB has created has forced many schools to abandon solid curriculum and even eliminate recess. School districts feel the pressure from the state, the school principals feel the pressure from the district, teachers feel the pressure from school administration, and students feel the pressure from everywhere. Even students who are too young for statewide tests feel the pressure when they are forced to stay inside for fear their laughter on the playground will distract the test-takers. This is true. I have heard from many teachers that recess is literally on hold for the spring weeks of testing. Ouch,
that hurts.

Footnote: Some of the same schools that are saying “No” to fire safety presentations are saying “Yes” to Ronald McDonald visits. Hmm. What’s wrong with this picture?

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