What in the world happened to people being capable of finding less than five minutes to make the most simple classic sandwich for their kids or themselves for lunch? Seriously, if you can't even find the time to make a sandwich rather than waiting 30 minutes for your lunch to defrost, you should consider re-prioritizing your day to day activities. I am completely AMAZED at the levels to which processed foods are being pushed in our culture and beyond. This is truly sad - a frozen PB&J sandwich that you defrost for lunch? Yuck and boo!
This abomination of a PB&J sandwich made its debut in 2003. Not one appeared in my world until recently. I feel proud however that I did not know these things existed until last week when my husband brought one home for me (someone gave it to him and he of course did not eat it) because he knew it would get me "inspired". Of course, the first thing I looked at was the long list of terrible ingredients loaded with preservatives and complete with a high dose of HFCS:
BREAD: ENRICHED UNBLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, UNBLEACHED WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, YEAST,PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: WHEATGLUTEN, SALT, DOUGH CONDITIONERS (MAY CONTAIN ONE OR MORE OF: DIACETYL TARTARIC ACID ESTERS OF MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES (DATEM), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, ASCORBIC ACID, AZODICARBONAMIDE, L-CYSTEINE), YEAST NUTRIENTS (MAY CONTAIN ONE OR MORE OF: MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM SULFATE, AMMONIUM SULFATE), CALCIUM PROPIONATE (MAINTAIN FRESHNESS), CORNSTARCH, ENZYMES (WITH WHEAT).
PEANUT BUTTER: PEANUTS, DEXTROSE, SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED AND/OR RAPESEED), SALT, MOLASSES, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES (PALM AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL).
STRAWBERRY JAM: STRAWBERRIES, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: PECTIN, CITRIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE).
One more rant about the disgusting Uncrustables: They make a grilled cheese version. Eeeeew! I can't even go into how ill that makes me feel. The package states that they are pre-toasted and made with process cheese spread.
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Anyway, below is my own delicious REAL peanut butter and jelly sandwich that I ate for lunch (really there is no comparison):
Ingredients in my sandwich:
DAVE'S KILLER POWERSEED BREAD: Organic whole wheat flour, organic cracked whole wheat, water, seed mix (organic flax, organic ground flaxseed, organic sunflower, organic unhulled sesame, organic pumpkin, organic black sesame seeds), organic fruit juices (organic pear, organic pineapple, and organic peach), organic oat fiber, organic vital wheat gluten, organic oats, sea salt, organic cultured wheat, yeast, organic rice bran extract.
MARA NANTHA PEANUT BUTTER: Organic Dry Roasted Peanuts, Sea Salt
HOMEMADE JAM: Raspberries, Organic Sugar, Organic Lemon Juice
I've been wondering about many things regarding people who choose to eat highly processed foods for a long long time. What makes their decision regarding the food they eat so blatantly opposite from my own? Was it my upbringing? Is it my own interest in nutrition and choosing to feed my body with wholesome foods? Is it because I love to eat which for me equals loving to cook? Is it the price? Well, I will eventually dig deeper in order to find some answers to my ponderings however,regarding the cost of Uncrustables, the amount of money you spend on those only comes out to about 20 cents less per sandwich and that is based on using premium organic whole ingredients in your homemade sandwich!
I feel like I need to say something: Taking into consideration what you put into your body does not mean that you are snobby or that you think you are better than those who do not care about what they consume. I'd like to live my one life on this planet as long as possible and make it disease and cancer-free. I hope that is everyone's wish for themselves. I could go on about this for pages and pages I feel so strongly about it but I wont.
You know, they actually serve uncrustables (and worse) in the elementary school lunch program - in Fairbanks. Eli took a bite once and decided they were not food but other kids who probably have never had Dave's killer bread and real peanut butter without all the additives and sugar eat them regularly.
ReplyDeleteYes, I didn't even get into that in my post about how they serve these nationwide throughout the school lunch programs. I meant to...makes you wonder why so many kids get diabetes nowadays--so many processed foods are the norm for them. So sad. I'd be really happy to see them serving simple PB&J on plain white bread like they used to over the Uncrustables.
ReplyDeleteI heard a "Splendid Table" podcast recently that featured a woman from the school lunch program in St. Paul, MN. They discussed the amount of money they were given per child for their expenses just to break even (food, labor, benefits, supplies, equipment, fuel for trucks, etc). That total dollar amount for their program is less than $3 per child - which comes down to $1 for food after all is said and done. USDA buys some things from farmers for the lunch program that are subsidized and it comes to about 20 cents per child. This is what has led the programs to purchasing processed foods for the lunches. The issue is so huge and has so many levels of politics and dysfunctional components. It is really upsetting.
Hi there,
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Jesse
The new school lunch regulations starting in 2012-2013 is basically forcing schools to serve uncrustables one day per week because they are limiting whole grain consumption to 9oz per week or 1.8oz a day. A whole wheat sandwich requires 2oz daily.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/SaveSchoolLunch