Is this everything that's wrong with America?

Here is a quote from Eating Well magazine: "We are a big, fat, lazy, wasteful, gullible culture. We'll swallow anything. We'll sell our parental pride for $2.89." (Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun columnist, on parents buying premade, frozen peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches for their children.)

What is wrong with Uncrustables? Let us count the ways...

1. They had to get a PATENT. For peanut butter and jelly sans crust. Here's the illustration for their application:
Apparently, their big innovation is using peanut butter and crustless bread to effectively entrap their world-famous jelly. (!)

2. Their...
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 1 Sandwich (58 g)
210 calories, 9 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat... (look for yourself)

You might be asking yourself how they crammed so many calories, fat, and salt into a tiny little sandwich, while leaving out so many nutrients... It might help to read their...

Ingredients
BREAD: ENRICHED UNBLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, YEAST, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: WHEAT GLUTEN, 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: SELECT ROASTED PEANUTS, DEXTROSE, VEGETABLE MONOGLYCERIDES (FROM PALM OIL), SALT. GRAPE JELLY: GRAPE JUICE, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, PECTIN, CITRIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE ADDED AS A PRESERVATIVE.

We all know that refined flour is bad, hydrogenated oils are bad, corn syrup is bad (and high fructose corn syrup is god-awful!), not to mention all the other unpronounceable ingredients.

But what is really bad is the economics:

Here is how much one would pay for an Uncrustable (~ $2.99/ 4-pack)= $0.75

Here is how much one would pay for a similar peanut butter and jelly sandwich: (~ $2.59/18 oz. for a jar of Jif peanut butter, with 16 servings, ~ $2.45/18 oz. for Smucker's grape jelly with 32 servings, and ~ $2.39/20 slices for a loaf of Wonder Bread with 10 servings)=~ $0.17

Here is how much one would pay for a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich (whole grain bread, natural peanut butter, organic jelly) (~ $3.89/18 oz. Crazy Richard's all-natural peanut butter, with 16 servings, ~ $3.49/10 oz. Cascadian Farms organic grape jelly with 1 servings, ~ $3.00/20 slices of fresh-baked whole wheat bread at my local grocery store with 10 servings) =~ $0.74

These are prices I found on the Internet, so I'm sure everyone can find even better prices at their local co-ops or grocers, not to mention the added savings of, say, buying in bulk, making your own jam, peanut butter, or baking your own bread. What this demonstrates is that parents are willing to pay a hefty premium to stuff their kids full of chemicals, artificial preservatives, hydrogenated oils (of which you should eat none), refined white flour, GMO's, etc.

The great thing is, the convenience article doesn't really work here, because what is easier than making a PB & J, for crying out loud??

Start the revolution, folks! Refuse the junk being marketed to you and your kids. Reading an ingredient/nutrition label is one of the most enlightening and potentially empowering things you can do.