Breakfast Cereal

After a long night of studying, I woke up, groggily made my way down the stairs, and headed straight for the pantry. I grabbed the Honey Bunches of Oats box and poured myself an overflowing bowl of cereal and topped it off with skim milk from the fridge. The first bite is always the best, as it has not yet been drowned in milk. It was just what I needed to perk myself up and get ready for another day of school.  

Ever since I’ve been young, cereal has definitely been my favorite breakfast food. It’s fast, easy, delicious, and healthy too. It can even make a perfect snack after school or before soccer practice. And with hundreds of different brands currently on the market, there is always something new to try. Eating cereal is always a refreshing adventure, so it’s no wonder that 49% of Americas chose to start out their day with a breakfast cereal of some sort.

 
Cereal grains, which include: wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, millets, oats, barley, and triticale, have been eaten for hundreds of years. Wheat and barley originated in the Fertile Crescent region of the Middle East in 7000 B.C., while corn is native to South America (4500 B.C.). Asia is home to the rice plant and originated around 4500 B.C. Cereals had cultural beginnings much before recorded history. Because of their nutritional value, they were one of the major factors in the shift from nomadism to subsistence farming, as they provided more food with less effort compared to other crops. In the beginning, cereal grains were mainly used to make bread and other related products (Katz 353-54).

It was not until the late 19th century that cereal grains were eaten in the form that we are used to with our everyday Cheerios and Frosted Flakes. Americans were in search of a healthier solution for the meal of breakfast, as eggs, sausage, hash browns, and bacon were the main staples at this time. Members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church were spearheading a vegetarian movement in the 1860’s, which was when James Caleb Jackson introduced his cereal-esque “Granula” in 1863. This cereal did not really take off because of its lack of flavor (Bellis 1).  

The next generation of breakfast cereals came around in the early 1900’s when brothers John and Will Kellogg began experimenting with flaked wheat as a food easily digestible for hospital patients. They were boiling wheat, but overcooked it so it became crunchy when dried. They tried eating it with some cold milk, and surprisingly found that it tasted pretty good. So in 1906, Will Kellogg founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. His brother John was a key player in the company, as he was most focussed on the nutritional aspect of the cereal, while Will was more into appeal and marketing. Together, the brothers balanced each other out and began to “transform Americans’ breakfast habits” while “pioneering the mass advertising campaign in the United States” (Katz 357).

From there, the cereal industry has really begun to blossom, becoming a popular on-the-go snack or breakfast. Its main selling qualities are that it is quick, nutritious, inexpensive, convenient, delicious, and portable. With hundreds of different varieties and flavors, breakfast cereal has become a main staple of the American diet. “By the 21st century, more than 2.7 million pounds of cereal has been consumed in the United States” (Katz 356). So now that we know how much cereal we consume as a nation, it is important to look into the nutritional value of this popular breakfast.

The nutritional content of cereal obviously varies depending on the brand and variety, however most are predominantly a source of carbohydrate. In the past couple of years, cereal companies have made a big effort to incorporate more whole grains into their products. This means more fiber and less processed flour, and an overall healthier cereal. Almost all major breakfast cereals are also fortified with essential vitamins and minerals, such as iron, riboflavin, niacin, and some B and D vitamins, pretty much just replacing what is lost during the processing process. “Most nutritionists agree that the best cold cereal contains one or more whole grains, no partially hydrogenated oils, no added sugar, no added salt, and plenty of fiber (3 grams per 100 calorie serving)” (Katz 358). Most cereals range from about 90-230 calories per serving, depending on the amount of fats and sugar. To assist in your own personal choosing of a breakfast cereal, visit Diana Mirkin’s helpful site, How to Choose a Breakfast Cereal.  

However, one major issue with breakfast cereals is the amount of processing that goes into their production. “Absolute availability, continuity, food quality, and price have (at least in theory) seemingly banished the problem of absolute need, of nutritionally poor food and of the general scarcity of food in commonplace in the premodern West” (Haden 347). As a society, convenience and taste are much greater concerns than nutrition or sustainability. Since the processed food boom after World War II, “about 90 per cent of the money that Americans spend on food is used to buy processed food” (Haden 346).  

As Pollan describes in his in depth look at the cereal grain corn in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, far too much of our diets are made up of corn-based ingredients. “There are some forty-five thousand items in the average American supermarket and more than a quarter of them now contain corn” (Pollan 19). And not only have we become dependent on corn, but “had maize failed to find flavor among the conquerors, it would have risked extinction, because without humans to plant it every spring, corn would have disappeared from the earth in a matter of years” (Pollan 26).  

For example, I am looking at the ingredients list for my basic box of Multi-Grain Cheerios, and I can spot three corn-based ingredients (whole grain corn, corn starch, and corn bran) out of fourteen total ingredients. What do we know about this corn? And where did it come from? Is it genetically modified? These are questions that the cereal box conveniently does not address, and are questions that the answer is harder to find than it should be.

Also, where is the cereal aisle located in the supermarkets? Most will probably have noticed that it almost always located on one of the middle aisles. So what is the reason for this trend? As explained by Raj Patel in his book Stuffed and Starved, almost all of the processed or packaged food sold in supermarkets is located in the inner aisles, while the fresher produce and products are on the outer perimeter. “We’ve surprised supermarket scholars by not following a lawnmower path up and down the aisles, but saving time by sweeping around the perimeter of supermarkets...and darting into aisles to pick up whatever it is we need before retreating once again” (Patel 228). This darting into the aisles would include picking up your favorite boxes of cereal, as cereal is of course located in one of the inner processed-food-cornucopias.  

The major brands of breakfast cereal are: Kellogg’s, Post, Quaker, Nestle, and General Mills. To see how all of these stack up against each other, I recommend visiting the informative site: Breakfast Cereal Compared: Cereals from Post, Kellogg’s, & General Mills. And of course there are the smaller brands such as Kashi, Cascadian Farm, and Nature’s Path, which focus on the health and sustainability aspects of their products. Michael Pollan discusses the aspects of industrial organic farms, such as Cascadian Farm. Gene Kahn, the founder of this particular farm, “went on to become a pioneer of the organic movement and probably has done as much as anyone to move organic food into the mainstream, getting it out of the food co-op and into the supermarket,” which is why we see organic cereals such as those produced by Cascadian Farm in corporate stores today (Pollan 144-145).

All in all, cereal has become the stuff of American breakfast culture. Whether its hot or cold, wheat or corn, cereal is the most popular breakfast food in the country. Internationally, cereal is not quite as popular and is not available in as many forms as it is here, but does still exist abroad to a certain extent.  

For example, Europe is home to an organization called “CEEREAL,” a group made up of 13 member associations in 12 countries in the European Union. “A healthy breakfast makes an important contribution to the overall wellbeing of the European population. Therefore, CEEREAL is committed to communicating the benefits of breakfast and breakfast cereals in order to enhance the understanding of the sector’s contribution among EU stakeholders, in particular within the areas of nutrition and health” (Ruebotham 1). What a cool idea! This site is packed full of interesting breakfast and cereal facts, who would have thought that cereal was such a big deal in Europe?

So next time you fill your bowl with crunchy goodness and splash it with some cold milk, take a second to think about what it is you’re enjoying for breakfast. Opt for healthier choices such as whole-grain and rich in fiber. Top it with fresh or dried fruit for some added vitality.  Think about everyone (the farmers, the processing plants, and the inventors) that are making your enjoyable breakfast possible for you. And last, think of all of your fellow Americans (on a good day over half of the population) who are simultaneously raising their spoons with you, creating a nation united by one common breakfast choice--cereal.  Most important of all, enjoy!

Works Cited

Bellis, Mary. "The History of Breakfast Cereals." About.com: Inventors. 17 Sept. 2008 .  

Haden, Roger. "Taste in an Age of Convenience." The Taste Culture Reader--Experiencing Food and Drink. By Carolyn Korsmeyer. 344-56.

Katz, Soloman H., and William Woys Weaver. "Cereals." Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 353-55.

Katz, Soloman H., and William Woys Weaver. "Cold Cereal." Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 356-59.

Ozeki, Ruth L. All Over Creation. New York: Penguin (Non-Classics), 2004.

Patel, Raj. Stuffed and Starved : The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. New York: Melville House, 2008.

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma : A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007.

Ruebotham, Phil. "Organization and Mission." CEEREAL. 2008. 22 Sept. 2008 .