Just when you thought the Boy Scouts of America had a monopoly on organizational misbehavior, CBS Los Angeles discovered a video showing more than 13,000 boxes of unsold, unexpired Girl Scout cookies knowingly trashed last May. How many innocent Thin Mints have to die to satisfy your corporate greed?
In the footage, a bulldozer destroys a mountain of cookie cases as a worker excitedly yells, "Goodbye, Girl Scout cookies!" CBS LA's sources claim that the practice of dumping leftover Girl Scout cookies in this way is far from uncommon.
Reporter David Goldstein determined that the cookies in question were originally ordered by the San Gorgonio Girl Scout Council in Redlands, CA. In an interview, a council representative blames this waste on ABC Bakery, their supplier. If cookies are over-ordered, 1% can be returned to ABC Bakery for a refund—these 13,200 boxes represent that 1%.
It would be naïve to think that large-scale waste isn't a reality on the assembly lines and in the warehouses of major food conglomerates, but this is the gee-dee Girl Scouts, a service organization in which charity is supposed to be a priority.
Girl Scouts of the USA expressed regret over this incident, but explained that they had "no national policy" on what becomes of unsold cookies. Maybe it's time they enact one—especially considering that ABC is one of only two commercial producers of Girl Scout cookies in the United States.
Lest we forget, the Girl Scout Promise and Law resolve to "help people at all times" and "use resources wisely." My fourth-grade Girl Scout troop's tyrannical leader forced us to rake her (able-bodied) mother's lawn for our "community service"—this is a true story—but I have much higher expectations (and esteem) for the organization as a whole.
[Image via spirit of america / Shutterstock]