Granola-Induced Trauma

Maybe some of you don't find cereal to be particularly zeitgeist-y, let alone interesting, but this is serious business! My cereal has gone upscale and my life will never be the same. I feel like I've lost a faithful, crunchy, and nutritious friend.

I've been obsessively eating the same cereal—Back to Nature Raisin Granola (don't bother with the other flavors)—for the past eight months or so. Sometimes I'll even eat it for lunch or dinner. With a little soy milk, it goes down real smooth. I've never been much of a breakfaster, but this cereal made me change my tune. Which is curious, because it doesn't even taste good. It's kind of bland, and a little too chewy, with uneven raisin distribution, and middling fiber content (13%).

I think I was initially drawn to the packaging which was so much less flashy against the other sporty looking granolas. But check out the photo! The new bag looks exactly like every single other product on the shelf with the clear window and the stupid "freshslide" closure (a big chunk of plastic that'll be tossed out in a matter of days). It's completely distressing!

And check out the inset. They moved the no-artificial-ingredient blurb up to the most prominent position, added the whole grain reference, and totally expunged any mention of protein or fiber. Is fiber too 80's a food concept? They would never market something called Fruit & Fiber nowadays, that's for sure. But how can we throw it aside so casually? Colons around the globe must be groaning in protest.

Anyway, the most infuriating part about all of this is that the new bag is 1.5 ounces lighter, but notice how it's very slyly designed to look much bigger. AND it costs $1.60 more. If I'm going to pay that kind of price, I may as well buy one of those yuppie brands that actually tastes good.

I think I'm going to wean myself off Back to Nature in favor of this raisin bran I discovered just the other day (Skinner's!). They've got a marketing strategy I can live with.