The "Healthy" Snack Cart

At the beginning of the year, I signed Jillian up for the "healthy snack cart" at school. This was advertised as a cart full of healthy snacks (ie fruit, string cheese, veggies) and milk that gets pushed around to the classrooms around 2 p.m. each day. I figured Jillian would be excited about this, and thought it would be a big win because she'd try more healthy foods (peer pressure seeing what other kids chose) and it would save me from having to remember to pack her a snack each day. I paid the $40 yearly fee, and pat myself on the back for checking that item off the list. In reality, the "healthy" snack cart is full of junk. Yes, there is apparently always the option of an apple, but those apples are displayed along next to rather unhealthy options such as Teddy Grahams, Scooby Snacks, and "some kind of delicious cookies". Really? What kid is going to ever choose an apple when presented next to those other options? I'm extra fired up about this because we just watched the documentary "Fed Up" last weekend, which I'd highly recommend. The biggest takeaway for me from that show was that it's really a shame that we try to appeal to such young kids with their food choices by placing characters on packaging and advertising it as healthy, and that our sugar intake in this country is out of control. Big-name food companies continue to worm their way into school lunch programs and healthy eating initiatives and throw their money around  getting us to ascribe to what they say is healthy. That's not really my point here, but it's related to the topic, so worth mentioning. Anyway, I finally had a little chat with Jillian about the "healthy" snack cart and we agreed that she could choose one of the exciting treats every other day, and make a healthier choice (apple or string cheese) on the alternate days. I don't want to deprive her of occasional treats (despite my rant here, I do believe in moderation of all things). She felt this was a fair compromise, and being the type A oldest child that she is, she is very diligent about following this "rule". We have a similar rule on days where she buys school lunch in relation to chocolate vs white milk. Today when Jillian got in the car after school, we were discussing her day as usual. I asked her what snack she chose and she said, "Oh, Mom. I was going to choose an apple, but they had these amazing looking cookies I'd never seen before, and I just lost my mind about it! I couldn't help it, I HAD to try those cookies!" I told her I could definitely relate to being wooed by desserts...that problem is just in her genes. She went on to say, "Mom, I don't think the healthy snack cart is really healthy anyway. Why do they put cookies and Scooby Snacks on it?" I told her that these were excellent questions, and that she'd just have to do her best to make the best choice that was healthy for her body each day. Later she brought it up again--"Mom, I just keep losing my mind over the snack cart. Can you un-sign me up?" Oh how I wish I could. Lesson learned, rookie mom mistake.