EAST AURORA, NY — In a backlash from parents on social media, toymaker Fisher-Price was criticized Monday for its plastic food, which reportedly gives children unrealistic expectations that there will be enough food. “The people who run Fisher-Price should be ashamed that their sandwiches, waffles and plastic eggs with peanut butter and jelly fool our impressionable kids into thinking there’s always food around the house,” said mother-of-three Teresa Platler, adding that she was alarmed to hear her son was returning from a play date where he and his friends were all pretending to be fed up of the same plastic hamburger, and that needs to stop. “We’ve got kids passing around a plastic hot dog, making a big show of opening their mouth and saying ‘yum, yum, yum,’ and then dropping the hot dog on the floor where their friend picks it up and pretends eat it too. In this situation, there is only one hot dog, not two, and it just isn’t right to teach our kids that there’s a lot to do. If we want to prepare children for the real world, we have to stop lying to them. Not only do you get a milk carton and a juice box with every meal like you do with these toys. How am I supposed to send my kids out there thinking real food is as readily available as plastic? What message does that send? Fisher-Price must take responsibility for cheating our children.” Parents also criticized Fisher-Price for selling plastic fruits and vegetables, which gives children living in food deserts an unrealistic expectation that these types of foods will be in their neighborhood exist.
