Reflections on a Dying Snack Food ~

      Hostess has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Apparently, it’s the second time in the last 10 years. Its hard to imagine a world without Twinkies and Wonderbread, but we may, in fact, be on the verge of witnessing their end. Can you believe it? Twinkies and Wonderbread: things that seemed at one point to be as American as America itself. They have graced the lunch boxes of just about every kid in the country. What happened? I have a theory, but before I throw it out there I want to say a few things. 1. I like - No, I LOVE zingers and the orange cupcakes with the white swirlies on them. Yes, I do. I freely admit it. 2. I am not speaking for everyone. I am making an observation about me and my own peer group using my experience. I’m generalizing and thats all. 3. I am not a crusader. Maybe I should be, but I have four kids and the oldest is five so cut me some slack. :)

Here goes... A few years ago I heard a lady named Lisa Johnson on the radio talking about her book, Mind Your X's and Y's: Satisfying the 10 Cravings of a New Generation of Consumers. She talked about how the new adults are changing EVERYTHING about the way the consumer world works. Products, politics, spirituality: its all changing. What’s different? In my own words: we are label readers. And, we are teaching the world to be label readers too. At one point, the advertisement on the front of the package was enough. (I am specifically talking about food, but its the same for everything else. We have a way of nicely packaging up whatever we are trying to sell to the world.) 

Twinkies! Yellow sponge cake with cream filling! Oh yea! What else do I need to know?!  

At some point, though, we began to wonder... Maybe I should know something more. What’s actually in this stuff? How is it made? Where is it made? People started to mistrust the flashy ad on the front of a product and to scan the back for more information. (Actually, I think the Baby Boomers started this and we just took it to a different level) We became researchers devoted to the study of words with 15 syllables that often turned out to be some horrendous chemical. We demanded change. Companies were required to provide nutrition information. Words like “natural” and “organic” entered our vocabulary. They were soon followed by other words like “free range” “grass-fed”, and, eventually,  “fair trade”. We are a generation that digs deep. We are not just consumers, but participants and often activists. We want to know what we are getting, what’s in it, where it was made, how it was made, if the person who made it was paid enough to do so, if we can recycle the package, etc. etc. etc. We want to see something we can believe in, something we feel is understandable and given out with  integrity. We feel the right to ask these questions about EVERYTHING and we demand full disclosure. As a result, companies and institutions that want to keep me and my peers are having to become more and more transparent and more and more in tune with the things we value. Those who don’t will not survive. 

Why is my generation like this? I honestly don’t know. Maybe we watched our parents be let down too many times - consistently getting more or less than what they bargained for. Maybe it’s just that we sung that song a few too many times in kindergarten: “Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?!” Whatever the reason, this is the way we are. I’m not at all saying we do all this “label reading / accountability” stuff perfectly. We each have our own passions. But, in general, I struggle to give myself to something I don’t understand. I am focused on the food right now because of my kids. The point is, unlike the people who first bit into the soft and creamy deliciousness of a Hostess cupcake, I have the option of knowing what’s in it. And, having read the label, it feels like a bad idea to me. I am not blissfully ignorant. Because of that, I would rather eat my own cake or the one from the bakery down the road. I want real flour, eggs and sugar. I want things not injected with growth hormones or played with in a laboratory. I’m not too interested in malo-dextro-philo-something or other... In my opinion, this is why a company like Hostess is on the verge of dying.
This is both confusing and annoying to those who aren’t used to us. (I have known a few people to get exasperated with my many prodding questions.) Just so you know, sometimes its frustrating to me too. Sometimes I choose to turn a blind eye. I eat the cupcake on occasion. But, alas, sweet zingers, though I love the way you taste and your seductive vanilla ways, I also know how you poison me. Since I can’t imagine the words “all natural ingredients” gracing your cellophane package anytime soon, I think I will continue to avoid you. Maybe tomorrow I will give in, but not today.