There’s nothing quite like the crazy of an extremist to make a movement look really bad.  From politics to religion and everything in between we are constantly bombarded with examples of people who take hold of an idea so fiercely that they actually do more harm than good for the cause they are trying to prop up.  These kind of people make great headlines and are, unfortunately, usually more interesting to read about than those of us who are trying to make rational arguments.

The proponents of healthy living are not immune from this phenomenon.

MeMe Roth, a mother of two living on the Upper West Side in New York City, has recently made headlines for her crusade against junk food at public schools.  What makes this case so unusual is that she isn’t angry about the food being served as part of the daily menu.  The treats that have her all worked up are the sugary ones that teachers occasionally have in their classrooms for special occasions.

Mrs. Roth has decided to become an anti-cupcake crusader.

While I very much agree with her stance that we have an obesity epidemic in this country her methods definitely leave a bad taste in my mouth.  Her request that permission slips be required before any kind of treats are served outside of the normal school day meal plan is only the most recent in a seemingly long list of bizarre war with sugar.  Some of her previous exploits have included :

• Starting an email campaign to have a bagel and Pringles lunch removed from the school menu (prompting another parent to ask her to move out of the community).
• Stealing sprinkles and chocolate syurp off of tables during an ice cream social at the Y.M.C.A.
• Calling Santa Claus “fat” on television during the Christmas season.
• Waging an ongoing campaign against Girl Scout Cookies.

I applaud Mrs. Roth for wanting to do something about the obesity problem we have here in America, but as an advocate for personal responsibility I simply cannot endorse her approach.  My son is diabetic, and I too have had to deal with the “special occasion” treats in public school.  My response has always been to make sure he takes something along to share that he can safely eat so that he could still participate in the celebration without feeling completely deprived.

Or, you know, just letting him have a treat every once in a while.

It is very clear that Mrs. Roth would remove our ability to choose whether or not we indulge in junk food were it up to her.  The mission statement on the National Action Against Obesity web site (the organization she is the President and Founder of) states, in part, that they work “independently and as a consultancy to reverse the obesity epidemic by eliminating ‘fake foods’ from the food supply.”

In the immortal words of Mr. William Shatner and Mr. Henry Rollins : “I can’t get behind that.”