The Frustration of MeMe Roth

MeMe Roth is well-known around here.  She's been featured on our own Baristanet for her skirmishes with Millburn school district's junk food policies, or lack thereof.

Then, she moved to Manhattan, and today was featured in the New York section for apparently alienating P.S. 9, the school her kids now attend, on this very issue. 

The tone of the article was a little patronizing.  It's true, the woman is passionate and, according to detractors, a bit "abrasive" in her crusade to ban sugary, non-nutritious treats from schools.  And, um, she apparently cursed and threw things in a meeting with a "school safety official." 

But in a way,  I admire her.  She really believes in something and stands up for it--no, not school prayer or that Wiccan should be offered as a social studies course.  What she believes in is this: Parents should be able to determine a healthful diet for their kids, and the schools should not undermine this, especially when science and unending data support certain realities.  As MeMe puts it so succinctly:

 

Is there, or is there not, an obesity and diabetes epidemic in this country?

Read the article, and you might start to understand her frustration. I mean, the school told MeMe and her husband that, if they found the school's cupcake dissemination a threat to their kids' safety,  they would need to file a "health and safety transfer, something that generally follows threats of VIOLENCE" and lodge a complaint with the police!    

I remember being bewildered when, in preschool, my kids would be served gigantic cupcakes at 10 AM, sometimes two days in a row.  And I often would find out about it by accident--after I'd let them have their afternoon treat at home.  Anyone who knows me, or has seen my pantry, knows I am NOT a Sugar Prohibitionist.  However, since treats are an optional part of any kid's diet, I just want to plan accordingly.  

But that's not what this entry is about, because, frankly, I don't think it's an issue in our schools. (Tell me if I'm wrong.)  

What bothers me is that this woman shouldn't need to "catch a few flies with honey."  Read the article, and you'll see she's tried to mesh her own family's food practices with the school's policies.  But everyone laughs her off as a loony.  PTA folks write messages encouraging her to move away.  Other parents call her "abrasive."  But the science is still there. She does have a point.  And it's a point, from what I can discern, that the school has not addressed.

What also concerns me is the role of the teacher mentioned in this article.   Though not directly quoted or interviewed, s/he comes across as unhelpful toward the child.  Regardless of what you think about MeMe, her child is not to blame.  And the hostility expressed between the lines here just might have to do with MeMe's anger, no?