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Girl Scout cookie rant

Girl Scout cookie rant
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  • Girl Scout cookie rant

    Post #1 - February 2nd, 2010, 4:45 pm
    Post #1 - February 2nd, 2010, 4:45 pm Post #1 - February 2nd, 2010, 4:45 pm
    An interesting essay from Kate Harding on Salon. I agree with her on the cookies just not being that good:

    Gorging on Girl Scout Cookies
  • Post #2 - February 2nd, 2010, 5:28 pm
    Post #2 - February 2nd, 2010, 5:28 pm Post #2 - February 2nd, 2010, 5:28 pm
    great article.
  • Post #3 - February 2nd, 2010, 7:48 pm
    Post #3 - February 2nd, 2010, 7:48 pm Post #3 - February 2nd, 2010, 7:48 pm
    Personally, I found the Burry produced Girl Scout Cookies teh best.

    I prefer to write a check to the troop selling the cookies in lieu of the cookies. Back when the cookies were $1.25, the troop was only getting 0.05/box. As a result, my mother, the troop leader canned the cookies in favor of paper drives. The girls could collect 5 tons of newspapers and collect $200 a week as opposed to selling 4000 boxes of cookies. That was enough to finance one week long campout and two weekend ones.
  • Post #4 - February 2nd, 2010, 8:00 pm
    Post #4 - February 2nd, 2010, 8:00 pm Post #4 - February 2nd, 2010, 8:00 pm
    I'm with you, J - besides, what are we rewarding if we buy cookies that both taste bad and aren't good for you? I'm all for the entrepreneurial spirit, which I think was in play when the Girl Scouts came up with the idea of baking cookies and selling them.

    I get that this is sadly no longer feasible, but I hate these sales and all the magazine, giftwrap and candy sales of their ilk: inadequate and unwanted products consumers buy because of guilt. If you like the things, by all means buy them...but I'm having my own Nutella and homemade McVitie's this week, thank you. I'll send the girl scouts in my family a couple bucks as I eat it.
  • Post #5 - February 2nd, 2010, 10:23 pm
    Post #5 - February 2nd, 2010, 10:23 pm Post #5 - February 2nd, 2010, 10:23 pm
    I posted on the shortbread cookies last year. This year, I'm hoping it's better & I think I may have 8 boxes, way down from before last year's disaster of 1 case. I used to average around 4 cases.

    Oh well, a girl has got to grow up doesn't she <sigh>.
    Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

    Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening
  • Post #6 - February 2nd, 2010, 11:26 pm
    Post #6 - February 2nd, 2010, 11:26 pm Post #6 - February 2nd, 2010, 11:26 pm
    Not gonna lie, I like the peanut butter patties.
  • Post #7 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:09 am
    Post #7 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:09 am Post #7 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:09 am
    it is what it is, its for a good cause, I could care or less about the cookies personally.
  • Post #8 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:24 am
    Post #8 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:24 am Post #8 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:24 am
    jimswside wrote:it is what it is, its for a good cause, I could care or less about the cookies personally.


    As mentioned above, though, it would be more beneficial to make a donation to the troop since the return for the troop on the cookie sales is a joke. At least for the amount of work most of the troop leaders, parents and so forth have to put into it. Girl Scouts, the organization, I'm sure does fine. I was a co-leader and actually had to pay a "sign-up" fee to initially volunteer my time. I'm not saying its not a great outlet for girls, it is, but it's the people who do the volunteer work that make the difference for a troop, not the cookies.
    Reading is a right. Censorship is not.
  • Post #9 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:45 am
    Post #9 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:45 am Post #9 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:45 am
    I've always been a fan of Thin Mints that are stashed in the freezer, but the ingredient lists just depress me. http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/

    Partially hydrogenated palm kernel oils, HFCS? Blech.
  • Post #10 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:50 am
    Post #10 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:50 am Post #10 - February 3rd, 2010, 8:50 am
    orangejeans wrote:Not gonna lie, I like the peanut butter patties.


    Life's not worth living without a stash of Samoas/Caramel Delites. The best part is, Mr. Pie hates coconut, so they're mine, all mine! Can't say the same about the mints, though, sadly. However, I agree with the fact that they're not as good as they used to be when Little Brownie Bakers were the manufacturers. They have a weird cardboard taste. But I don't know a good substitute for Samoas and I think I also buy them due to nostalgia of being a Girl Scout myself.
    I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert. ~ Jason Love

    There is no pie in Nighthawks, which is why it's such a desolate image. ~ Happy Stomach

    I write stuff.
  • Post #11 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:07 am
    Post #11 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:07 am Post #11 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:07 am
    When I was a Girl Scout, the cookies were made by Salerno. Yup. I'm OLD.

    My only rule about GS cookies is that I will ONLY buy them from ACTUAL Girl Scouts. Back in my day (Yup. I'm OLD.), we had to walk door-to-door taking orders in January and then delivering them in February. It was character-building (at least, that's what my parents told me). So I won't buy them from people who just bring the sheets to the office for their kids. This year, one little girl (daughter of a co-worker) came to the office and hit up all the cubicles. I bought a stash, including Thin Mints which are really tasty crumbled up as grasshopper pie crust or in homemade ice cream in the summer.
  • Post #12 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:22 am
    Post #12 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:22 am Post #12 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:22 am
    jimswside wrote:it is what it is, its for a good cause, I could care or less about the cookies personally.

    I pretty much agree. In fact, I told my friend whose daughter is selling them this year that we'd buy 1 box of each variety and that she could just keep the cookies or donate them.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #13 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:32 am
    Post #13 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:32 am Post #13 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:32 am
    I too don't really care about the cookies. I buy them and either give them away or donate them to a food pantry. I remember as a kid dragging my wagon door to door and selling those cookies and while it was fun it was also hard to meet the goal that was set for you. I guess I buy them because it would have been really neat when I was a kid for someone to say "I'll take a whole case!"
    One Mint Julep was the cause of it all.
  • Post #14 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:36 am
    Post #14 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:36 am Post #14 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:36 am
    I have to agree that the quality has gotten worse over the years, but I want to support them. This year when the neighbor girls arrived at my door I was given the option of keeping the cookies of donating them to a food bank. I thought it was a great idea and took them up on the option.
    For what we choose is what we are. He should not miss this second opportunity to re-create himself with food. Jim Crace "The Devil's Larder"
  • Post #15 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:40 am
    Post #15 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:40 am Post #15 - February 3rd, 2010, 11:40 am
    Erzsi wrote: I remember as a kid dragging my wagon door to door and selling those cookies and while it was fun it was also hard to meet the goal that was set for you. I guess I buy them because it would have been really neat when I was a kid for someone to say "I'll take a whole case!"


    Great point.

    Obviously I wasnt a girlscout, but I was in little league, youth football, etc, so I remember going door to door myself selling stuff for fundraisers.. Even as a child it gave a small ammount of ownership of the organization I was rasing money for & pride in doing a good job.

    it doesnt really matter if the cookies are bad, or unhealthy(what cookies arn't), thats not the point. If it helps the Girl Scouts recruit one girl to this fine organization by getting their name out there, or helped cover the cost for one thing or program they may have not been able to offer its worth it.
  • Post #16 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:01 pm
    Post #16 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:01 pm Post #16 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:01 pm
    tgoddess wrote: Back in my day (Yup. I'm OLD.), we had to walk door-to-door taking orders in January and then delivering them in February.


    Hey, I did that too! So you're not old after all.
    I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert. ~ Jason Love

    There is no pie in Nighthawks, which is why it's such a desolate image. ~ Happy Stomach

    I write stuff.
  • Post #17 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:03 pm
    Post #17 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:03 pm Post #17 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:03 pm
    Erzsi wrote:I too don't really care about the cookies. I buy them and either give them away or donate them to a food pantry.


    Donating to a food pantry is a good way to benefit two worthy organizations.
    "Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
  • Post #18 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:09 pm
    Post #18 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:09 pm Post #18 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:09 pm
    The Scout troop we bought from has adopted a number of Marines in Afghanistan so we have the option of having the cookies sent to them. We sure don't need them!
  • Post #19 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:09 pm
    Post #19 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:09 pm Post #19 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:09 pm
    I remember last year or the year before your dollars could go to buy and send cookies to soldiers overseas.
    Reading is a right. Censorship is not.
  • Post #20 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:54 pm
    Post #20 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:54 pm Post #20 - February 3rd, 2010, 12:54 pm
    Hi,

    Back in the day ... One of my sisters got very cranked up to sell one hundred Girl Scout cookies, because you received a badge. She got the badge, but the cookies didn't leave her bedroom. I remember her getting a few phone calls from people waiting to get their cookies. One day the troop leader called wanting to collect the money. Only then did my parents recognize all those cookies never left. It was quite a big to-do at the time.

    My very, very pregnant sister (not the one mentioned above) is quite competitive. Her daughter was in full selling swing a few weeks ago. My sister was also in a big lather to sell 100 boxes, because her daughter would get a badge. Those cookies will be ready to be distributed about the same time the latest family member arrives. It's really not the best year to get all goosed up over a badge.

    We ordered four boxes to please them. It wasn't enough. We got a number of phone calls trying to get us to buy more. To put this into perspective, all the cookies and cakes I sent at Christmas went to her husband's office. She didn't approve of all the butter, sugar and white flour in them. I believe she ordered over eight boxes of Girl Scout cookies, which will likely go to her husband's office, too. I think next year, we will make a cash donation to the troop. It may not get my niece a badge, though it will help the local troop much more.

    I sold maybe 30 boxes once. We moved the next year and I never rejoined Girl Scouts.

    I like thin mints and those coconut and caramel crusted things.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #21 - February 3rd, 2010, 1:35 pm
    Post #21 - February 3rd, 2010, 1:35 pm Post #21 - February 3rd, 2010, 1:35 pm
    Cathy2 wrote:...those coconut and caramel crusted things...


    Now that's a name!
    I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert. ~ Jason Love

    There is no pie in Nighthawks, which is why it's such a desolate image. ~ Happy Stomach

    I write stuff.
  • Post #22 - February 3rd, 2010, 2:36 pm
    Post #22 - February 3rd, 2010, 2:36 pm Post #22 - February 3rd, 2010, 2:36 pm
    Cathy, what a story. I admit, I get very irritated by the number of boxes that come into our house because some colleague of my husband is selling them-- no kids in sight. I suppose it beats walking door to door with your kids. (Does anyone let their kids sell stuff door to door by themselves any more? That idea gives me the wim-wams.)

    In the past, we were usually in Hawaii when the sales took place. Some hotels let the scouts sell in the lobby. It was fun to meet the locals that way-- and to have the cookies in the room when the munchies hit. We always ended up leaving several boxes behind, though, and wondered what housekeeping did with the undoubtedly large number of abandoned cookies every year.
  • Post #23 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:06 pm
    Post #23 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:06 pm Post #23 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:06 pm
    David Hammond wrote:
    Erzsi wrote:I too don't really care about the cookies. I buy them and either give them away or donate them to a food pantry.


    Donating to a food pantry is a good way to benefit two worthy organizations.


    Because the specific needs are so critical, and space is at a premium, some food pantries discourage desserts.

    The problem is, you aren't really funding the Girl Scouts, your money mostly goes to the profits of the manufacturer. No value is placed on the labor of the Girl Scouts, who aren't earning (on behalf of their troop) anywhere near minimum wage as workers for this factory, though they are solely responsible for turning the cookies into money. This seems contrary to the mission statement "Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place."

    Again, if you like the cookies, their delivery service has value. If not, why not donate to support the troop?
  • Post #24 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:10 pm
    Post #24 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:10 pm Post #24 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:10 pm
    bibi rose wrote:Cathy, what a story. I admit, I get very irritated by the number of boxes that come into our house because some colleague of my husband is selling them-- no kids in sight. I suppose it beats walking door to door with your kids. (Does anyone let their kids sell stuff door to door by themselves any more? That idea gives me the wim-wams.)



    I do not believe that the girl scouts allow or at least encourage the door to door selling like the days of my childhood. I believe our neighbor, who is a troop mom, said their specific troop did not allow it. Instead they were relying upon the parents being able to sell at work, the child being able to sell to family, and scheduled events where the troops set up in front of places like grocery stores and sell for the afternoon.

    On a personal note, I haven't had a child come door to door selling anything at my home in ages. Several years ago I had a group of high school boys selling candles for their tennis team but that is the last time I can recall a door to door sale. I haven't had any younger children selling magazines, candy ect in a very very long time.
    One Mint Julep was the cause of it all.
  • Post #25 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:11 pm
    Post #25 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:11 pm Post #25 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:11 pm
    So how much does the troop get from each box of cookies?
  • Post #26 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:16 pm
    Post #26 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:16 pm Post #26 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:16 pm
    Darren72 wrote:So how much does the troop get from each box of cookies?



    Q: What portion of the cookie revenue is shared with the group selling cookies?

    A: That decision is made by each local Girl Scout council, so the portion varies from one council to another. Nationwide, an individual group receives from 12-17% of the purchase price of each box sold. The group holds the money earned in its treasury, and its girl members vote on how to use that money.


    http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_co ... ue_portion
    One Mint Julep was the cause of it all.
  • Post #27 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:20 pm
    Post #27 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:20 pm Post #27 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:20 pm
    sounds like a good percentage to me, and a win win situation.

    Girl Scouts get needed revenue.

    Cookie factories get orders and keep people employed.
  • Post #28 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:21 pm
    Post #28 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:21 pm Post #28 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:21 pm
    Darren72 wrote:So how much does the troop get from each box of cookies?

    According to this Wall Street Journal article (via Seattle Times' archive from 1993), not a whole lot (10%-ish):
    http://community.seattletimes.nwsource. ... ug=1701067
  • Post #29 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:22 pm
    Post #29 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:22 pm Post #29 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:22 pm
    In my experience, it would be the lower number. The council is definitely in control and provides little, if any, funding for troops.
    Reading is a right. Censorship is not.
  • Post #30 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:33 pm
    Post #30 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:33 pm Post #30 - February 3rd, 2010, 3:33 pm
    Mhays wrote:Because the specific needs are so critical, and space is at a premium, some food pantries discourage desserts.

    The problem is, you aren't really funding the Girl Scouts, your money mostly goes to the profits of the manufacturer. No value is placed on the labor of the Girl Scouts, who aren't earning (on behalf of their troop) anywhere near minimum wage as workers for this factory, though they are solely responsible for turning the cookies into money. This seems contrary to the mission statement "Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place."

    Again, if you like the cookies, their delivery service has value. If not, why not donate to support the troop?


    I would also agree that there are more critical needs at a food pantry than cookies, but, I also know that my local food pantry that I donate to has many families with children and they they do appreciate getting a treat in their box when donations permit. When i was volunteering last year a woman told me what a 'wonderful surprise' it was to get a box of girlscout cookies since she wasn't able to purchase them on her own.

    I don't think that anyone would contest that donating to the troop is a good idea. I think that it is also important to let children actively participate in fundraising. Handing over a check for an amount is one thing, but, putting in the time and effort and learning the responsibility of working towards a goal isn't a bad thing either.

    At my child's school there are various fundraising sales through the year and the school earns about 10-15% of the total sales from these events too. I don't think that the figure of what is earned through some of these types of fundraising whether it be girlscout cookies or wrapping paper differs a whole lot. One of the more profitable fundraisers that our school does is a 'walk a thon' basically there is no over head, the child gathers sponsors, and just walks. That is probably our most profitable fundraiser
    One Mint Julep was the cause of it all.

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