Is it just me? (Frivolous Foods)greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread |
While surfing through the local news broadcasts last night, I caught the end of an item, I'm still trying to figure it out.Unfortunately, I missed the who/where, but the what is as follows. Some person has spent a great deal of time and effort to create a new product. Individually wrapped slices of peanut butter. It looks like slices of individually wrapped cheese. Why?
Sometime in the last few months I also came across something about a major company marketing frozen PB&J sandwiches. Why?
Let's all plant an extra tree this spring. I think the planet could use it. Gerbil
-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), February 18, 2000
How do you slice peanut-butter? I'd like to see frozen mustard Eskimo Pies.
-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweb.net), February 18, 2000.
Students at a university in Oklahoma developed the individually wrapped slices of peanut butter. I looks like those individually wrapped slices of American cheese. As a matter of fact, The students took their idea to Wisconsin and are using the cheese machines to make the pb wraps. Who would use such a product? Well folks with more money than time. Folks with small children who are unwilling to spend the time to make a pb & j sandwich, or those parents who are trying to limit the amount of peanut butter that their children consume. After all, a slice would distribute the peanut butter evenly and probablly take less product than when spread unevenly by hand. Saves soft bread tearing too don't you know. lol.
-- greenbeanman (greenbeanman@ourtownusa.net), February 18, 2000.
It's all about money. There are always those who will go for something new and if they advertise it on tv on the kid programs of course they will pressure their parent to buy it. I agree with greenbeanman above that it is about more money than time but I would go farther and say it's about more money than sense and that's not cents! I think this is what draws the line between homesteaders, or at least those who think the homestead way,and those who are not!
-- barbara (barbaraj@mis.net), February 18, 2000.
Well, it seams to me it's more for the convenience. Yes, the company makes the money, and I'm sure dollar per dollar, it will cost alot more to have individually packaged pb. But we live in a convenience-oriented society. Speed things up to fit more things in. Take a pill to get rid of pain now, rather than find the cause. We loose our morals and self satisfation that way. Most babies are aborted (97%) because of convenience (or lack of). Now what does that tell of society? When we begin to respect what's around us (like trees and human beings) our quality of life increases. Until then, we are just voices crying in the wilderness... Patrice
-- Patrice Bertke (herbalgroup@hotmail.com), February 18, 2000.
Whoa boy, Gerbil, you got me wound up now !!!!! Laziness is the fad of the last ten + years. The surprise is that, indeed, people will buy this stuff and consider themselves clever to have it in their cupboards.Reminds me of that old movie "Solient Green" where if you wanted a view of the trees you went to a movie house, and folks were eating processed food so much they never noticed that the food was really recycled people. People are all in a hurry to go nowhere and do nothing that they miss all of the joys of even partial self-sufficiency.Sure, it's easier to pick up a jar of applesauce at the store, but I loved planting my own trees and caring for them, and having all of us pick the apples and run to the house to make applesauce and pies and all sorts of goodies.You just can't get that from a jar in the store. We have had tons of foster children over the years and what a joy to introduce them to a non-Nintendo world of "doing" VS observing.Well, anyway, you know that this is preaching to the choir, but I love your idea of planting new trees in the Spring...I'll make mine a Dogwood..*smiles*
-- Lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), February 18, 2000.
I was once a member of a panel that tried new food ideas such as this, they were all aimed at convenience and the almighty dollar. They once had me critique fruit flavored YOGURT slices, how gross is that?!
-- Julie (juliecapasso@aol.com), February 18, 2000.
I saw the same news item and had two printable thoughts. First, what did they put into the peanut butter to make it so stiff and what will it do to the body? The second thought was, "Oh, no, more non recyclable packaging!" I can't imagine unwrapping the slice then seeing that the wrapper got into the proper receptacle over getting a knife, opening a jar....Can we get any lazier?
-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), February 18, 2000.
Listen you guys!How in the world are we going to keep the bubble.com economy going if you won't do your part as consumers????
If you don't buy the product, you don't allow the company to keep expanding. If it doesn't keep expanding, how is it going to attract wall street? If wall street isn't attracted, what will the stock do? (If we don't have stocks, where will you put your 401k funds? You are working, aren't you? You're supposed to!)
(Just a thought, though. Now that all the men and women, too are working these jobs, we had better get the kids to work to sustain this boom! Maybe ditch the child labor laws? Whaddya say?)
You need to stay in the cycle to keep our economy going. What are you, unpatriotic? Don't forget we keep the rest of the world economy going too....so if you don't buy that peanut butter product, japan won't be able to sustain it's economy, so neither will any country that they have loaned money to...etc. Kids all over the world will starve. And it's your fault!
Ok, sarcasm off here.
Sheesh, I don't know about anything anymore.
Greed rocks!
-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), February 18, 2000.
To sheepish above I say AMEN!!!!
-- barbara (barbaraj@mis.net), February 18, 2000.
Kinda reminds me of some tenants I used to have. In the middle of August, enough tomatoes in the garden to supply the whole county, and she askes me to pick her up some tomatoe sauce if I'm going to the store. On food stamps, yet! Lord knows we wouldn't want to pry her away from her soap operas long enough to go to the garden. OY!
-- Connie (litlgaea@cs.com), February 18, 2000.
Makes you wonder how many of these folks with no time to spread PB on some bread ever stopped to calculate just how much it costs them to be so busy. All these moms around that "have to work" because they "can't afford not to" - how much is spent on convenience foods like this, in addition to daycare and all that stuff. The more stuff like this that comes on the market, the more mom's going to "have" to stay at work - heck, how 'bout the kids?One question - how will you be able to stuff this sliced PB into celery or apples?
-- Becky M. (beckymom@kjsl.com), February 18, 2000.
Glad to know I am not the only person who thinks this way! This is not about the pb thing, (but what a stupid idea!)but while I was still working, one of the town's deputy's wife was homeschooling her children, and made a comment to me one day about her food bill, and how hight it was now that they were home all day. She asked me about "cheap" snacks. I suggested popcorn, as my kids (child-type, not goats!)always love it. She said "Oh, no, can't make that, we don't have a microwave". After a few stunned moments, I explained how to make popcorn on the stove. Her eyes glazed over, and she informed me she would just have to go to Sams and buy large bags of already popped corn, as it sounded like too much work! Sheesh! Some people are so lazy! Jan
-- Jan Bullock (Janice12@aol.com), February 18, 2000.
She could have had her kids pop the corn and called it a learning experience. Actually I think the "send kids out to work" idea has some merit. Maybe if kids felt useful and were busy we wouldn't have gangs of roaming marauders on our hands. Thank goodness living in the sticks is peaceful, but ignoring gangs because they don't directly impact me isn't an option either. What IS the answer? All this stuff seems to be related-instant pb sandwiches and psycopathic children. Or is it just me?
-- Peg (jnjohnsn@pressenter.com), February 18, 2000.
Pass the spray cheese, please.
-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), February 18, 2000.
Gerbil, there is an #ss for every seat! As my husband would say! This is just totally ridiculous! peanut butter in a slice! Well it takes time to make our children a sandwich, time that could be better spent on the cell phone!!!!!cara lewis cnllewis@email.com
-- cara lewis (cnllewis@email.com), February 18, 2000.
Just give us a jar of peanut butter and a spoon, who cares if we eat too much. We like the jelly pretty thick too, or better yet our home grown, home made pumpkin butter. No lazy children here on our homestead, either!
-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), February 18, 2000.
Doesn't anyone want to spend time with their kids anymore?? I love the little everyday things I do with them, like making a peanut butter sandwich. Why have kids if you don't have enough time to really enjoy them? People don't know what they're missing! I say, LEAVE THE PEANUT BUTTER IN THE JAR!!!!!!
-- Wendy (weiskids@nalu.net), February 18, 2000.
Two products I've seen that fit this category are: 1. fully-cooked bacon in a plasic package, 2. Ready-to-eat tomatoe soup in a jar! If you are going to eat 'processed' soup from the store, anyway, how much extra time does it take to open the can, add water,stir and heat?
-- Sharon (wswiii@worldnet.att.net), February 19, 2000.
people out there have forgotten how to do a lot of things, Just ask them how to make coffee with out pluging it in.
-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), February 19, 2000.
Heck, I don't know how to make coffee WITH plugging it in! Of course, I also have friends who think it's awfully funny that I have 3 children, but have no clue how to prepare a bottle.
-- Becky M. (beckymom@kjsl.com), February 20, 2000.
HA! Only one of mine (I had four) took a bottle, and then only for the juice. The rest of them wanted "Mom's home cookin'" in the original container, IF you please. I vote for leaving peanut butter in the jar; if slab peanutbutter tastes anything like the plastic wrapped cheese slices, we will be doing the world a favor by leaving well enough alone. Man, I thought peanut butter WAS convenience food. Just slap it on bread, and no refrigeration required! Gerbil, don't get me started.....
-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), February 20, 2000.
It's not just any of us, it's all of us! Pretty near impossible these days to live up to the philosophy of Countryside without offending someone, somewhere. But we are certainly living in a science faction time warp with our biogenetics and adbusters pleas. At the risk of incurring the writer's wraths...seems to me we're hypocritical to point fingers at the potential consumers of sliced (ick) p.b. while using our fingers to pc thoughts in this exchange. Depending on your point of view, we are all technological "sinners" at some point. I think the sliced p.b. sounds foolish too, but I have a friend who buys organic p.b. in a jar and another who makes it from scratch and I just buy generic and take my chances with chemicals, rodent parts and other such additives. The important thing here is to all keep talking to each other respectfully, even if our views are different. The TRUTH is subjective.
-- Susan Mahoney (TheMahoney4@CS.com), February 21, 2000.
Re: Susan Mahoney's post above:Yeah, to a certain extent I agree with you. However, I think many of us are very discriminating, probably to a point of paralysis sometimes, regarding what decision to make about a new product.
I have zero problem in deciding to buy an upgraded computer (other than cost!!) if it can keep me in touch with what I need to find out in the world. If all my store carries is peanut butter slices, and I need a resource to help find if there's any options (let's just say I could surf the Web for alternatives), then I consider my peecee to be an educational tool.
I evaluate my consumer choices based on scales of impact. I would not like to encourage consumer demand for sliced peanut butter, mink coats, sweatshop sweatshirts, checkout publications at the store, etc. I *would* like to encourage sensible demand for educational items like peecees, transportation that uses resources effectively, etc. so they remain available.
So... I don't think that always means we are hypocrites. At least most of us on this forum probably think a lot about these kinds of choices, I would venture to guess. But your point is well taken...Something about living in glass houses, or the first one to throw the stone, or both!
Just early morning thoughts on first cup of coffee, so hope it makes sense....
-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), February 21, 2000.
people who live in glass houses shoudnt throw stones!love to drive my teenagers nuts with quotes.
-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), February 21, 2000.
I guess I have reached an age where it is no longer important to me to be politically correct in any sense.I will risk offending folks with my firm belief that stuff such as sliced PB is plain old lazy and stupid and worthless unless you are an astronaut or planning to stroll into the tundra, or get lost in the deep woods. So, I'll continue to use my PC until I cannot move the keys anymore because of the dried peanut butter I bought,on sale,without preservatives, so I could afford the computer.Gosh, I LOVE being middle-aged and opinionated !
-- Lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), February 22, 2000.
my frist time on this forum i think sliced pb is nuts "pardon the pun"i find that more and more things coming off wall street make less and less sence. am i losing touch with reality at 41 year of age or are my sensibilties becoming less tolarent of stupity i have to get out of this city shaun
-- shaun cornish (shaun-terri@juno.com), February 22, 2000.
When my son was screened for kindergarten, the woman doing the screening was horrified because my five year old son did not know what a milk carton was. She showed me the test and I told her how unfair it was. My son lives on a farm, I explained. He knows milk comes from a cow. Ask him what foods we get from a cow and he will tell you milk, butter, ice cream, etc. Ask him what foods we get from a pig, etc. That would be a fair test. Ask those city kids (the ones who recognize the milk carton), those same questions and I'll bet few of them would answer right. I was proud that my son failed that test and told her so.
-- Patti Morris (pmorris@ecenet.com), February 23, 2000.
Gerbil, you really started something here!! Sheepish- I love thaat-"scales of impact"- great phrase. Negative OR positive. When people learned how to harness horses for plowing instead of oxen, it was a great advance. They could plow more land faster. When the iron plow was invented it was a great advance in technology. We just have to keep the "impact" in mind and choose good advances instead of bad. Telling the difference is sometimes the hard part.
-- Peg (jnjohnsn@pressenter.com), February 24, 2000.
Patti,HOLY COW!!!
That one just hit me bullseye! ( A little bovine humor to alleviate some of the astonishment I have for that test!!!)
Incredible.....
-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), February 24, 2000.
Excuse me, but as someone above said, I'm getting old(ER) and opinionated and proud of it! Sliced PB is as bad as "lunchables", disposable diapers, Individually pkgs. fruit, puddings and jello, microwave popcorn, Pokemon, and on and on. Parents have been led to think by the advertisers that if they don't give their children these things they are not good parents. I still say it is all about money. Mothers have to work to provide these things they think their children need when really what they need most is Mom, Mom's milk in the original container, mom's time and love. Pass the stove-popped popcorn please!
-- barbara (barbaraj@mis.net), February 24, 2000.
Barbara, you are right on. Although I love my son dearly, he earns three times as much as I EVER did, yet he and his honey never have enough money to keep up with their "needs". They buy my grandsons EVERYTHING! And themselves, too, to a slightly lesser extent. I tried to train him to realize that it's not how much you earn, but how you spend it that counts, but he hasn't caught on yet...
-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), February 24, 2000.
Patrice, I am not following your conection of pre-wrapped PB with abortion.I do think PB in plastic is disgusting and as far removed from the real thing as is possible...oh, no, that would be synthetic PB in plastic.
I bought a PB-loving friend the natural kind as a gourmet treat...she thought I was crazy. Which is why I have several pounds of JIF on hand now. Oh, well, can't win 'em all!
-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@aol.com), February 24, 2000.
HA! My DH was a "Jif only" kind of guy, too. Once we got rid of the stuff and started eating only "natural" PB, he got used to it. He now refers to the processed stuff as "peanut-flavored margarine" - which it is. So, yeah, in a sense, this sliced stuff will be imitation PB. Will they have to put "pasteurized process peanut-butter food" on the label?
-- Becky M. (beckymom@kjsl.com), February 25, 2000.
Oh my gracious - I am SOOO embarassed! Can you believe that this whole wrapped pb slice thing came from MY neck of the woods? I just read in our local paper a glowing article about "isn't this great, someone from our area invented this wonderful sliced peanut butter". She's from a town only about 50 miles away from where I live. SHEESH!
-- Becky M. (beckymom@kjsl.com), March 14, 2000.
This is EXACTLY the sort of thing I've been trying to avoid since taking the big plunge and cleaning house of every chemical, food additive, artificial color, flavor, etc., I could find. My son's preschool teacher commented to me the other day, telling me how different Michael has been since we went "au naturelle".What has it come to when convenience foods (i.e., peanut butter, which, I'm sure any college grad will agree is the original convenience food!) are applauded for becoming even more convenient???
I think that little, individual, plastic/chemical wrapped pieces of plastic/chemical food (I challenge ANYONE to find a REAL peanut in there!!!) is one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard of in my whole entire life. It ranks right up there with the peanut butter and jelly in the same jar they came up with several years ago -- or as another submission said earlier, those disgusting pieces of plastic food they market as "lunchables".
The next thing will be "soilent green" -- in handy, individual plastic wrapped packages. But how convenient!!! I'm sure that it, too, will be an instant hit with all those people who have gotten so removed from the food chain that they think "fresh" means "just arrived on the truck".
Gross.
-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), May 05, 2000.
Excuse me...but how can unwrapping a "slice" of pb be more convenient than opening a jar and slapping some on bread. Wouldn't the unwrapping take longer?What would we do without the thrill of a freshly opened jar of peanut butter? The aroma....the first swipe through the smooth top.....
Without empty peanut butter jars, what would my 5 year old use to carry his worms\bugs\rocks..............
There comes a point IMHO where progress becomes negative.
-- Mona (jascamp@ipa.net), May 06, 2000.
Mona, I think we've long passed that point in many areas! I don't much like peanut butter, but this invention is really strange!! The processed cheese slices are such a pain to unwrap -- surely no-one would seriously think that it was more convenient to package peanut butter that way than in a jar?!? Never mind the nutritional issues!!
-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 07, 2000.
Sounds awfully DRY to me. And don't these people know that by making such a "convenient" product they are depriving children of a good way to develop their fine motor skills, thinking skills, decision making skills(smooth or crunchy?)and just the good feeling of self accomplishment they get from a job well done? Have you every watched a 5 year old making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? It is not the sandwich itself but rather the whole EXPERIENCE of "creating" we're talking about here.Maybe it's just that I relish in the simple pleasures of life, but I say, "LONG LIVE THE GOOEY PEANUT BUTTER!!"
Greenthumbelina
P.S. And for those of us who like a "spoonful" of peanut butter with a "handful" of Hershey's kisses.....life just wouldn't be the same without the spoon!! =D
-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), May 11, 2000.
I'm with those who have physical reactions to the thought of all that packaging. Although I'm far from a packaging purist, I am also just as far from the herded norm, stampeding their way down the killing chute/grocery lane in hot pusuit of neatly wrapped, petrochemically preseved sweetfeed that the adman assures us is the acme of living high on the hog (and won't our less cutting-edge soccer-neighbors be jealous! Which, or course, is the whole point of living.) My co- workers just look at me with complete (and I do mean complete) incomprehension when I try to explain that maybe it's better to buy a big bag of chips and a big bottle of sauce and bring little bits to lunch at a time than to fill up the ground with those one-serving nacho packs. They just don't understand. Nada. Zip. Total blank stare. As if they would be caught dead luggin Tupperware to work like a peasant, let alone the odd, re-used bags containers I bring my lunch in. Conspicuous consumption is so brutally repulsive once you've distanced yourself from it, but so opaque to the real world when you're in it. Can you believe I used to go to the mall every day (out of boredom and habit in equal measure) and spen several hundred a week on, essentially, crap. Neither can I, but I did and I remember the sheer normal feel of it. Everyone else I knew lived like this and only the poor and third-world weren't coming to the party. Thank God I had a high-paying job and spent cash instead of amassing the equivilent in credit card debt. Still an appalling waste, but at least I'm not still paying for it in the literal sense.
-- Soni Pitts (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), August 06, 2000.
You guys are great! That is why I love this forum, if this much thought is given to this, imagine the thought given to other issues!!! I love it!! Why cant I find you people in my community? Are we the silent majority? Or is this just wishful thinking? Ditto, Ditto, Ditto! Wendy
-- wjl7 (wjl7@hotmail.com), August 06, 2000.
wjl7, why not start a "frugal living" group in your community? It has been done in many places; in fact at one time there was a place on the web with links to communities that have these groups started. (I don't remember where it is, though. Sorry.) Maybe start a book group and begin with Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette Books, or the book "Your Money or Your Life" or something. Get together and trade $ saving tips once a week or? The people are out there and they are sick of their lifestyles, too....you could help them figure out how to do it and maybe meet some good folk, too. Just a suggestion....
-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), August 06, 2000.
Sheepish, this is Wendy@GraceAcres, sorry about that. When I first came to the forum I put wjl7 in as name, (so I would remember), then once I got to "know" the people and figure out how all this works (computer, e-mail, web sites, etc..) I put in my real name. I am pretty new to all this. Need to go back and change the name to I don't have to rememeber to change it every time! Anyway, wanted you to know who you were talking to!! Thanks, what a great idea! Never even thought about that. I bet you are right about people wanting to "scale down" and helping/encouraging others to take the plunge! Thanks Again! Wendy
-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), August 06, 2000.
First of all - the PB Slices taste just like peanut butter. Why? Because they are peanut butter! They are able to come in slice form simply by how the ingredients are processed (plus a little .002% additive that is the secret formula).Second of all - the prior discussion points are more than likely an exact replica of the non-educated, non-informed discussions that happened years ago when cheese started coming in slice form.
The 20+ people in this discussion might not think PB Slices are a good idea. But there are 250 million plus people in this country. It will sell. It will be adopted by many. Period.
-- John Smith (thesweetchicken@aol.com), August 13, 2001.
Well, John, all I can say is that 250 million people CAN be wrong.So, now do we all have to say "the greatest invention since sliced Peanut Butter"?
Hey, that brings up another thought - what was the greatest invention BEFORE sliced bread? LOL!
-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), August 13, 2001.
ok maybe I'm being overly sensitive or something but I suddenly have this sick feeling in my gut! I mean, is there ANY hope left?!?! I will turn 28 next month but I feel like my philosophy is that of my 90 something grandma ( or older). I guess my brain has a hard time accepting that we, as a society, are stupid. Worst part is, there are no more islands. A glum Mrs G
-- Mrs G (gunnar@yifan.net), August 13, 2001.
Do you think planting the trees will help with the oxygen level and thus help with the number of functioning brain cells?This was a great post, only one snotty person, worth a good laugh (needed one, too). I'm glad someone else likes seeing the texture of a newly opened jar of pb and as to eating it with a spoon, who was peeking into my kitchen? Have to add some chocolate, maybe choc. chips would work. It somehow wouldn't be the same, unwrapping it. YUCK!
Millions of people smoke but, guess that doesn't make it palatable to those that don't or those that are dying b/c of it. Point being, numbers and sales are not always the final answer.
-- TAB (burnash@gisco.net), August 13, 2001.