Cereal: The New Human Chow

When did cereal become human chow? Like dog chow, it has become ok to feed this crap to our kids pretending it's a whole meal. You all remember those cereal commercials..."This part of a complete breakfast.."?? PART of a complete breakfast. Did you notice all the other good food sitting on the table around it? Now I understand in the hustle and bustle today we may not have time every morning to fix bacon, eggs and pancakes. I understand that maybe a couple times a week this could be a reasonable substitute for breakfast- accompanied by fruit or for christ's sake at least some fruit juice. But this cereal craze has taken over an entire meal- the most important one too! On top of that, I don't see parents giving their kids Total or Raisin Bran, where at least they would receive some fiber and vitamins..no it's more like "ahoy matey this is Capn' Crunch and my sugar covered ship looking to fill you full of refined flour and high fructose corn syrup."
Oh, or Lucky Charms- lets do give our children marshmallows for breakfast- that'll help maintain their blood sugar  and energy for the school day ahead.

Ok, now I am NOT knocking Lucky Charms and Capn' Crunch. Those are my all time favorite cereals. They have their place in an otherwise normal and healthy diet, but it is NOT a meal made to be served daily, in fact it is not a meal at all- it is a Small PaRt of a complete breakfast. Would it take that much longer to toss a banana and some microwaveable sausage on a plate with it? I think not. Shit, we raise our kids on white flour and sugar for breakfast and wonder why, oh why is childhood obesity a problem. Why, oh why can't my kids sit still in class...? hmmm, I just don't know! 

I guess we should thank general mills for at least putting out a small effort to make their products "with whole grains" (not made FROM whole grains, made "with")...it's a very small step toward higher sales from bullshit marketing aimed towards health conscious people; but nonetheless a step in the right direction.

We may not be able to control ourselves enough to change our own miserably inadequate diet, but could Americans at least think twice before programming our kids into the same predicament?