Hey guys!
It's November 1st. Now, other than being the first day of what's probably, in my opinion, the most inconsequential month ever, there's some significance to that date. It's the day after Halloween.
Now, two things generally happen to me on the day after Halloween. In order:
1. Sugar coma
2. Guilt
I mean, seriously, as I write this, I'm staring down a plastic pumpkin that I KNOW most likely contains two of every candy known to man. It's like the child of Pandora's Box and a candy-coated Noah's Ark! I know each bar probably contains the chemical content of twelve periodic tables, but how am I supposed to resist all of these? So, being a nerd and all, I thought about it, and thought about it, and eventually I came to a few conclusions.
1. We, as a society, are surrounded by unhealthy food.
2. Because of this, it is harder, if not impossible, for one who is currently unhealthy and or overweight and or obese to become healthy.
3. So, if we want to become healthy, these unhealthy choices need to be reduced or eliminated.
At this point, I came to another conclusion.
4. If these choices are reduced or eliminated, people will be unhappy.
In order to avoid that, I came to my last conclusion.
5. We need to build better candy bars.
Now, here's the basic mission statement I would make if I were the head honcho at Candy's Candy Crevice or whatnot: we need to refine our candy recipes to not only include healthier, more natural ingredients while excluding unhealthy ones, but to retain a taste that's either better, the same, or close to the same as the unhealthy candy counterpart.
Seems like quite an undertaking at first, but take a second to think. We've got so many natural ingrediants we could use in these equivalents. Sugar cane, maple, honey, mint, lemon, orange, lime, coconut, the list goes on. We could also benefit from putting less sugar and corn syrup in our chocolate, trading it for a higher percentage of cocoa bean. Sure, by removing preservatives, these bars won't last as long, but I'd take it in stride as a chocoholic.
Another barrier against turning our bars natural are the people who grew up on the candy. Some say it could be a bad buisiness move to "alienate" the people like you and I who've grown up on these confections (see: New Coke). But, I'm inclined to think differently. People like jumping on bandwagons (see: Thighmasters, reality TV, the success of Paranormal Activity, the entire career of Rob Liefeld) and I believe they'd be just as eager to do this, for a short time. I'd still keep the unhealthy versions around for 3-5 years after the swap, albiet at a price $0.25 to $1.00 higher. This way, by the time Generation Z (sidenote: What do we call the generation after Z? Alpha?) rolls around, they'll be accostumed to the new flavors.
That way, when I'm Tomato-the-professional-writer-blogger-guy-thing, I won't feel guilty stealing candy out of my kid(s)'s big plastic Jack O' Lanterns.
Thoughts?
Tomato
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And now for something completely different.
1. Anyone seen This is It? How is it?
2. I just won a $15 Best Buy gift card for Most Original Costume! What can you buy at Best Buy for $15?
3. I've just been challenged by a family member to write a story in a month. Whowhatwherewhenwhy?
And now I'll answer a question for you.
4. Should you check out the post below this one if you haven't already?
A. Yes
Tomato
Posts
As one of the many Americans fighting the whole overweight battle, I sympathize with your plight against candy! Currently our freezer is full of all the chocolate Dash collected. All I can advocate is to do what Gandhi says: "Be the change you want to see in the world." (Or, should you prefer MJ, start with the "Man in the Mirror.")
ReplyDeleteManufacturers of every stripe will continue to make things that people buy, and we are engineered via years of evolution to desire things like sweet, sweet, sugar and delicious fatty foods. Wanting the chocolate makers to stop or make things healthier because it would force us to eat better is rather like shouting at the rain. Companies have tried, and with a few exceptions, it doesn't sell. At least, not as well as the bad-for-you-stuff. As Pogo said "We have met the enemy and he is us."
Instead, you, me and all the others waging the war against increasing pant-sizes need to recognize that we have within ourselves the power to eat wisely. (Can you tell I'm reading "The Beck Diet Solution?" Well, actually, I'm sort of trying to read it, since, like I said, it's a struggle.)
Give the candy to a food pantry, and grab yourself an apple.
Be Well, Tomato,
Mrs. N.
Couldn't have said it any better than Mrs. N, Tomato. The key to winning the battle against increasing pant-sizes is to go ahead and eat anything you want- in MODERATION. The "MODERATION" part is hard at first, but once you get the hang of it, it can be very satisfying- especially when you realize YOU are the one in control.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll go eat a fun-size candy bar...
Mrs. M.
I am in agreement with natural candy bars. A business idea would be, for example, release a natural Hershey's bar (give it a unique packaging and name, like Darwin Bar by Hershey's) for a limited time. Promote it with TV ads and Inform the news. (I can see the US Weekly story now...). People then rush out to buy it, and more companies Darwinize their chocolates. The originals stay, but lose popularity and disappear in a few years.
ReplyDelete(Just a note: The name Darwin bar comes from his discovery of natural selection. All the ingredients would be selected from nature.)
And look in the $5 bin at Best Buy. There can be some really good deals in there (I found School of Rock in one).
If you haven't eaten all the candy yet I will "provide" the service of eating it for you! haha. I hope you feel beter soon! I did not want to get sick and then get my patients from school sick so I decided to not come today. I feel like we haven't seen each other in forever though!! I have a lot to tell you! Feel Better Justin!
ReplyDelete-Laura :)