The Core Knowledge Blog

“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.”

Barry Goldwater never met MeMe Roth.  The New York Times (HT: Joanne Jacobs) has a piece about the Upper West Side Manhattan mother who is waging war on junk food in her child’s school.  But it’s not the school lunches that have MeMe’s knickers in a knot.

What sets her off is the junk food served on special occasions: the cupcakes that come out for every birthday, the doughnuts her children were once given in gym, the sugary “Fun-Dip” packets that some parent provided the whole class on Valentine’s Day…When offered any food at school other than the school lunch, Ms. Roth’s children — who shall go nameless since it seems they have enough on, or off, their plates — are instructed to deposit the item into a piece of Tupperware their mother calls a “junk food collector.”

Ms. Roth, who runs a group called National Action Against Obesity, has something of a record on this issue.  “The police were called to a Y.M.C.A. in 2007 when she absconded with the sprinkles and syrups on a table where members were being served ice cream,” notes the Times’ Susan Dominus.  ”That was Ms. Roth who called Santa Claus fat on television that Christmas, and she has a continuing campaign against the humble Girl Scout cookies, on the premise that no community activity should promote unhealthy eating.”

When the Roths lived in Millburn, New Jersey, MeMe (Me! Me!) waged a similar campaign against bagels and Pringles in school lunches leading to an e-mail from a PTA member that counseled “Please, consider moving.”   Sounds like P.S. 9 is thinking the same thing.   School safety officials have reportedly suggested the Roths request a health and safety transfer.

A commenter on the Times’ message board sums up the issue neatly and economically:  “Obesity is unhealthy. And so is belligerence.”