Does your kid miss the free cookie at Publix? COVID made it crumble, but now it’s back

Howard Cohen
·2 min read

We all know the Florida legend that suggests a Waffle House Index is an unofficial metric typically used by FEMA to determine the effect of a major storm and the amount of assistance needed for disaster recovery.

But is there a Free Publix Cookies metric, too, because if there isn’t, perhaps there should be to let us know when a crisis is starting — or, in this case, perhaps ending.

In March 2020, citing the new COVID-19 pandemic, the Publix supermarket chain halted its popular, but not generally advertised, program by which children can get one free cookie from the bakery department. Kids, shopping with their parents, seemed to like the treat and we bet more than a few grownup “children” partook of the freebie, too.

Earlier this month, the Lakeland-based Publix reinstated its tradition companywide, said Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous.

“We welcome kids 12 and under, accompanied by an adult, to participate in the free cookie program,” she said.

Reports of the cookie return comes two days after Publix relaxed its mask policy after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new recommendations that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 “can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing.”

So is the COVID crisis over?

No.

Florida COVID update for Tuesday: 94 more resident deaths, highest in over a month

But at least some sense of normalcy, new or otherwise, appears on the horizon now that metrics like reduced number of patients requiring hospitalizations, along with declining new cases and daily deaths.

And don’t worry about Publix running out of cookies to sell should there be a rush of pent-up demand for a free taste of a chocolate chip treat. The chain’s bakery plant can churn out 2,400 cookies a minute, a bakery general manager told Fox 13.

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