Cereal that saves the planet doesn't save taste buds, says NYT

by Sarah Gilbert, Posted Jan 11th 2006 @ 7:14AM

Why do you buy your breakfast cereal? Peace Raspberry Ginger cereal carries a quote from Mother Teresa, along with a promise to send 10% of profits to a "foundation for peace." Barbara's Bakery, which makes the Cinnamon, Peanut Butter and Honey Rice Puffins cereals, sends a percentage of its profits to a wildlife refuge (to help puffins... maybe). Envirokidz Panda Puffs (my fave of the brands mentioned) has a box 10% smaller than other cereals to contribute to "global sustainability."

They're part of a growing trend of "alternative cereals," says Marian Burros in the New York Times. But: "one thing few of them can boast about is taste. I sampled about 100, and words like cardboard, sawdust, soggy and stale often came to mind. And natural dried berries don't taste any better than artificial ones."

After reviewing all the labels and pointing out the offending high-sugar (Peace Maple Raisin and Mother's Cinnamon Oat Crunch) and high-sodium (Peace Mango Passion, Cascadian Farm Hearty Morning 360) varieties, Burros picks out only five that she would eat, if she ever gives up stone-ground oatmeal: Arrowhead Mills Shredded Wheat, Cascadian Farm Wheat Crunch, Kashi Mighty Bites, Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puffs and Kashi 7 Whole Grain Flakes. And then she predicts that consumers won't put up with tasteless cereal for long, even if it is sustainable and high in fiber.

I don't find that to be true in my family - we eat the healthy, organic varieties and I actually enjoy them. I've even found that some varieties are quite low in sugar. I'd add Mother's Peanut Butter Bumpers and the yummy, low-sugar Heritage Flakes from Nature's Path. Do you eat planet-healthy cereals? Do you like them?

Source

Filed Under: Vegetarian, Vegan, Non-GMO, Raves & Reviews, Trends, Newspapers, Stores & Shopping, Ingredients
Tags: breakfast, grains, msg, organic, stores-and-shopping

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-11-2006 @9:11AM Punisher2k said... Is Honeycomb a planet friendly cereal?

When I want to eat, I'm not looking to save the world. That's just to much pressure to put on a meal.
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1-11-2006 @11:38AM Liz said... I'm a big fan of cold cereal in the morning (fast, usually healthy) and when we were trying to lower our carb intake a couple of years ago, we found Nature's Path Organic Multigrain Oatbran, in the flake format. At first I found it a little plain, but now I quite like it. We bought it for the high fibre content. We also keep Nature's Path's Optimum Power in the house too because it's sweeter and it's nice for a change.
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1-11-2006 @12:20PM becky said... My daughter likes Puffins (the cereal and the bird.)

We just bought organic instant oatmeal at Costco. We'll see how good it is. (we passed on the Costco brand organic peanut butter because it had added sugar.)
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1-11-2006 @2:51PM peggy said... i love most of the kashi cereals. try the honey puffed kashi(tastes like sugar smacks) i also like peanut butter puffins. i think both are good "alternatives" .
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