A Girl Scout cookie slump

Girl Scout cookie sales aren't quite as sweet as usual, said Gracie Bonds Staples in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Blame the sour economy." Pre-order sales are the lowest that one regular parent volunteer has seen for the scouting group's crucial annual fundraiser. But sales continue through March, so there's still hope.

Don't count on a rebound, said Tracy Coenen in WalletPop. All nonprofits are struggling to make ends meet these days. And, while I can't bear the thought of an organization that has "done so much for so many girls" succumbing to the recession, I have to say the Girl Scouts may have made their 16 percent sales dip worse by cutting the number of cookies per $3.50 box by about two to counter rising ingredient costs.

"I know the packaging and size of cookies have changed, so we're getting less cookie for our money," said Carrington Fox in the Nashville Scene, "and frankly, I applaud the Little Brownie Bakers' nimbleness in these hard times—so long as cookies' sizes go back up if transportation costs ever go back down." But is it just me, or did my first 2009 Thin Mint "taste different from last year's batch"?

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