Should the Girl Scouts Join Cookie Monster and Give Up Cookies?

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time again.  I have been hit up to buy cookies by family members, at the grocery store, and even at an exclusive movie star neighborhood street corner in Brentwood, California.  And I have to wonder, with all that obesity out there, is it really good for the Girl Scouts to promote cookie sales?
Let's first examine what the girls get out of selling cookies.
1.  They have to plan.  Each troop decides to whom they will sell (friends and families only or do they want to have a booth?)
2.  Goal Setting and Delayed Gratification.  What will they do with the money?  Does the troop have long term or short term goals?   This will help determine how many boxes of cookies they need to sell to reach their goals - both as individuals and as a troop.
3.  Math and Budget Skills.    Usually with the help of the adults, they have to balance some pretty big numbers.  The girls learn about where money goes.   Some of the money goes to them, but most of what is collected goes elsewhere.  The first time they learn this is always a shock but they also learn about giving to the larger community. (Kind of like the lesson you learn when you get your first paycheck with taxes taken out!)
4.  Teamwork and Selling Skills.  Trying to get a new troop of young girls organized to sell cookies for the first time is like herding cats.   Each girl has a unique approach.  For success they need to learn to work together.  They also learn how to approach potential buyers as well as how to accept rejection.
5.  Character.  They have to make decisions on whether or not it is more important to act in an ethical way or to sell more cookies.

BUT, couldn't they teach all this and sell something else?

Well, I think the Girl Scouts are actually teaching one more thing by continuing to sell cookies.  Let me explain.  I overheard two doctors discussing how many Girl Scout thin mint cookies constitute a serving.  Along came a third doctor who was well -known for his love of thin mints.  (He orders a case of them each year.)  "Dr. Mint," he was asked "will you settle an argument for us?  Are there  3 or 4 thin mints in a serving?"  "Why, neither" He answered. "Everyone knows a serving of thin mints is one box!"  And there in lies the problem; the eaters do not know portions or self-control.
The Girl Scouts have made their cookies sales into another teachable moment.  Girl Scout cookies are special.  They are only available once a year.   They are worth savoring.  And that is what all special treats should be about.  Girl Scouts help girls to develop values, and that includes food values.  Not all foods have equal nutritional value nor should they be eaten with equal frequency. To quote Cookie Monster "Cookies are a sometime food".  That is a more difficult lesson to teach than to just stop selling cookies.
And that is where I think that Sesame Street went wrong with Cookie Monster.  Cookie Monster acts like a typical 2 year old.  Instead of changing his personality and making him something he is not, they could have made him a teachable moment too, and taught about portion control.  Instead they took the easy way out and just had him eat vegetables.  Two year olds do not believe that "cookies are a sometime food".

 So to get back to the question Should Girl Scouts continue to sell cookies?  I have to answer, YES, because:
Number 6.  Special Treats Are Occasional and Worth Savoring.  If Girl Scouts didn't sell cookies, they wouldn't learn this lesson which is just as important as the other ones.  A campaign of "Just say no to junk food" is not going to work.  Instead, enjoy a few Girl Scout cookies now (with milk!) as a special  treat and know that we will be back next year.


(Time for full disclosure - I was in Girl Scouts through high school,  my daughter's Troop leader and I am a life time member of the Girl Scouts.)