Great yogurt debate by the New York Senate continues to make the headlines with its continued mention on late-night TV. The great yogurt debate started with the New York Senate's intention to teach a fourth-grade class about government. However, the great yogurt debate is continually mentioned by David Lettermen and Jon Stewart, leaving lawmakers with a sour taste reports CTV News.
The great yogurt debate by the Senate has reportedly been spent in 45 minutes of pondering about the merits of the legislation. Held this week, the debate challenges the legislation and was initiated at the influence of students from a dairy-producing area in western New York.
Before passing the bill, the senators first mulled over the distinction between snacks and meals and whether other snacks were more deserving. This was the main focus of the great yogurt debate, and which has made the hit of late-night comedy.
Sen. Gustavo Rivera, D-Bronx asked, "What exactly are we defining as a snack?"
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer, R-Amherst responded, "I think it's self-explanatory. I mean, you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then you have snacks."
Rivera asked the same question again about raisins and pretzels, "Did you consider, say, the potato chip?"
This exchange from the great yogurt debate in the N.Y. Senate has been skewered by Letterman and Stewart. Letterman played the video from the great yogurt debate as part of a segment called "New York State: Your Tax Dollars at Work.", while Stewart called the negotiations "maybe the best 40 minutes" of legislative debate ever, reports CTV News.
Stewart said, "Even the fourth graders who brought this up in the first place are like, 'They're still talking about the state snack?'"
Some of the merriment was even staged as a parliamentary protest.
On Facebook, Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan wrote that she asked silly questions. These included one about the bill's allegations for lactose-intolerant New Yorkers as a way to criticize the priorities of Senate leaders. She said that if Senate leaders "make us talk about yogurt, then that's what we'll talk about until they give us something better to do."
Yogurt is a big industry in New York State, especially in Genesee County which is home to the elementary students who suggested the bill and prompted the great yogurt debate while studying American government.
Casey Kosiorek, the local superintendent of schools said, "We're a dairy farming community, and there's huge pride in that. This has been a chance for some true authentic learning."
Meanwhile, there is still no news whether the state Assembly may take up the bill.
Great yogurt debate in the New York Senate may seem ridiculous while it became part of late-night comedy. But according to CTV News, New York isn't the only state with official snacks. States with snacks include Texas with chips and salsa, Illinois with popcorn and South Carolina with boiled peanuts.
To watch the fodder on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, click here.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
