Wednesday, August 01, 2012

The "Parental No" Files - City Summer Camp Edition


Today I'll be kicking off a new tag - "Parental No"

You know the parental no. It's supposed to be the sole line of defense in protecting society's children against the predatory practices of Big Food and from an environment that's completely stacked against our kids' weights and health.

It's the argument that the ignorant always fall back on to apologize for anything and everything Big Food throws at us.
"Parents can always just say NO",
they'll say, and then they'll often wax on about how crazy it is that there are people like me out there suggesting that the state has a role to play in helping to create a healthy environment for its most vulnerable population.

Easy, no?

Today's parental no requirement comes from Aisling Burke and the City of Brampton Ontario's camp system. Aisling's going to have to say "No" to letting the City run camp feed her kids. And yes, it's easy for her to do (though her kids may well feel left out if their peers are are chowing down on French fries, pizza, potato chips, hot dogs, cookies and freezies - but never mind that), but doesn't the fact that Aisling has to use up 5 parental nos a week on a publicly run camp lunch give you at least a moment of pause? More importantly doesn't it give you pause that the City of Brampton offers its children nutritional garbage for lunch each and every day of the summer?

Shouldn't publicly run institutions be safe havens for our children?