February is the time of year for one of our nation's greatest traditions. No, I am not talking about Punxsutawney Phil and his psychic abilities, nor am I referencing the sap−fest that is Valentine's Day. I am referring to the time of year when hordes of little girls put on their brown, green or blue uniforms and set up shop everywhere from grocery stores to subway stations to sell boxes of baked goods.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's Girl Scout Cookie time.
As an award−winning seller myself, I am sort of an expert on Girl Scout Cookies. I sold over 200 boxes a year from second grade through eigth, and I still have sweet patches on my Brownies, Juniors and Cadettes vests as proof. And yes, I did just admit that not only was I a devoted Girl Scout — I got my Silver Award and now am a lifetime member — but I still have my old vests hanging in the back of my closet next to my dance and Halloween costumes from years past.
Moving on.
Different Girl Scout councils sell their cookies at different times during the fall and winter, but it just so happens that the local Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts and the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, my council at home, both sell from the end of January to the beginning of March, with the biggest push around Valentine's Day.
The process of selling Girl Scout Cookies has drastically changed since I sold my first box back in 1995. The price of a box has gone up, and there are more varieties to choose from. With the help of their troop leader or parent, girls can now track their orders online, and older scouts are encouraged to use online cookie marketing, such as advertising on Facebook.com.
The one thing that hasn't changed, however, is the ingredients list. I am ashamed to admit it, but Girl Scout Cookies are extremely unhealthy, and I think something should be done about it.
If you look at the nutritional panels on a box of the two top−selling cookies, Thin Mints and Caramel deLites (none of that Samoas business, please — they have caramel and are delightful and their name should reflect that), you would not think you were looking at a little−girl−friendly product.
Thin Mints come in at 160 calories and eight grams of fat for four cookies. The first ingredient on the list is enriched flour, but the second and third are sugar and vegetable shortening (aka palm oil and/or partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil), respectively. And of course there is some high fructose corn syrup thrown in there for good measure. Caramel deLites have 140 calories and seven grams of fat for just two cookies, and sugar is the first ingredient. For comparison, Oreos contain 160 calories and seven grams of fat for four cookies with sugar as the first ingredient.
Selling Girl Scout Cookies is supposed to teach young girls about leadership, fundraising and responsibility. I think it should also teach them about good nutrition. Doesn't it make sense for a product sold by young girls to be more health conscious or wholesome? The cookies are made by large−scale commercial bakeries, ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers, and as seen with the nutritional information of an Oreo, are comparable to other mass−market baked goods. But even Oreos don't have partially hydrogenated oils.
The FAQ section of the Girlscouts.org Web site addresses a lot of questions about the nutritional value of Girl Scout Cookies, making me think that the organization has come under fire for this before — a few years ago they added the reduced−fat Daisy Go Rounds to their repertoire.
I will probably always support my local Girl Scout troop and purchase its cookies, but I think the umbrella organization needs to look closely at what it is asking their girls to sell.
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Caryn Horowitz is a senior majoring in history. She can be reached at Caryn.Horowitz@tufts.edu.
