Breastfast Cereal History: Where Did Sweet or Healthy Breakfast Food Get Its Start
Cereal. Ask a child to name the basic food groups and he will, undoubtedly, mention cereal or even the particular brand of cereal he ate that very morning. Cereal is a food all of society has in common and one we will, without a doubt, eat for the remainder of our lives. Even with vast health restrictions, cereal is a common staple among all human beings.
Like salad bars and gourmet coffee shops, cereal bars are popping up all over the country. With prices comparable to a gourmet coffee, one can enjoy a healthy, or unhealthy, mix of your favorite cereals and toppings in a hot or cold package without sitting in your pajamas while watching cartoons! Where, do you say, such a place would be?
First distributed in New York in 1963, cereal was conceived and was intended to serve as a health food; full of good fiber. The founder, James Caleb Jackson, entitled his graham flour, bran nuggets and water baked loaves “Granula”. Thus, the life of “cereal” emerged only to be forever evolving through generations to come. By 1985, a gentleman by the name of John Harvey Kellogg, a Seventh Day Adventist and vegetarian, introduced a more softened form of granola. So the story goes. Although, some will argue Americans were not the first developers of cereal. Rather the Europeans will boast the first “bowl of cereal” was developed to offset high fat English diets. Whatever the origin, cereal is definately a worldwide phenomenom.
One of the leaders in a more recent cereal rave is Cereality Cereal CafÃ?© (www.cereality.com). Founded in 2003, the first flagship store was planted in the student union building of the Arizona State University campus. Their motto? “It’s always Saturday morning!” At present, with four store locations, the Cereality Cereal CafÃ?© has found a niche in the market that caters to every person who enjoys that quick healthy breakfast, in need of a “light” dinner or for those of us who sleep walk to our Fruit Loops on a daily basis.
Cereality Cereal Caf�© allows both the health conscious and the sugar seeking to enter into a world of cereal as never seen before. With a variety of cereal selections, combinations are limitless. Cheerios mixed with Fruit Loops and blended with banana syrup. How about a healthy dose of slice almonds? Whatever your cereal fantasy may be, cereal bars and caf�©s aim to please the palate. Plans to franchise and expand the store locations are under development and will most likely offer a strong competition to traditional coffee and breakfast shops.
If polled, it is almost certain everyone has enjoyed a bowl of hot or cold cereal at some point in a lifetime. It is a staple that will never fade from culinary trends. And, with the introduction of cereal bars, move over $4 hot Joes, there’s a new flirt in town!
“Pop rocks” with those “Wheaties”, sir?
