Gummies/Fruit snacks - real food??

[Amy in NH]

Since most people classify gummies/fruit snacks as candy, I am curious as to where you find them in your local grocery store.

 

Our local Walmart has fruit snacks in the cereal aisle next to the granola bars. The candy aisle is a few rows over and the gummy bears and worms are there but no fruit snacks. 

 

Our Hy-Vee (grocery store) also has them in the cereal aisle tucked over by the boxed juices and Kool aid packets. The candy aisle is close by but the fruit snacks are not stocked with the candy.

 

Not with the fruit.

[AmandaVT]

They're in two different places in our grocery store. The organic ones are in the organic section with the candy. The regular ones are next to pop tarts and granola bars. 

 

I kind of want fruit snacks now. Or gummy bears....

[LucyStoner]

I've been thinking about it a lot, too, and I'm truly torn in my thought process.

 

I self-study a lot about nutrition, and my kids are quite well-versed in the concept of moderation (even when they don't care, lol.) Now they're watching other small children eat a diet of fresh fruit, fruit juices, and "junk food". That's literally >90% of their intake. And, of course, my kids want in. Everyone wants to point to the fruit value and ignore the overwhelming sugar content and lacking macros.

 

Anyway, I know I could be considered privileged and condescending talking whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, but that doesn't mean bodies don't need those things to function well!

 

Ultimately, I don't think healthy foods should be kept out of anyone's financial means. Nor should junk food be banned. Putting *morality* on food is insane. Providing adequate nutrition is still crucial.

I think what gets privileged and condescending is trying to tell other people what they can and can't eat. Or conferring a value judgement on eating "the right" or "the wrong" foods.

 

Most of my sons' diet is fruit, a selected number of veggies (more for my older son, fewer for my younger son), whole grains, some dairy, fish and meat, eggs and a fairly modest amount of treats. my kids don't drink juice or soda even weekly, much less daily. But truthfully my kids are so privileged compared to how I grew up and how their cousins live that it's not even the same world.

 

I don't think eating well of teaching about moderation is pretentious or condescending. It's the assumption I see at play that people who don't eat whole foods or cook from scratch are supposedly dumb, lazy or making bad choices. It's just not that simple. Which I know you know but it's why I am so tired of affluent white people doing the food stamp budget challenge and insisting it's all just fine.

Edited September 23, 2016 by LucyStoner

[Tanaqui]

Supermarkets place their goods where it's most advantageous to them. By ensuring that their fruit gummies are placed with the cereal bars* instead of with the candies, they hope to convey the impression that these are a good snack and healthy and not candy at all! People might be more likely to buy a "tasty snack - look, real fruit!" than "healthy candy - does that taste as good as regular candy?"

 

* Cereal bars, aka "cookies", also benefit from being placed near the breakfast foods rather than with the cookies. Again, nobody would willingly pick a granola bar over a chocolate chip cookie, but they might pick it over oatmeal, even though nutrition-wise it's more comparable with the Chips Ahoy than the Quaker Oats.

[Tanaqui]

Which I know you know but it's why I am so tired of affluent white people doing the food stamp budget challenge and insisting it's all just fine.

 

They ought to only ever do that by shopping in actual poor neighborhoods and then taking the bus home. That'd show 'em.

[redsquirrel]

Since most people classify gummies/fruit snacks as candy, I am curious as to where you find them in your local grocery store.

 

Our local Walmart has fruit snacks in the cereal aisle next to the granola bars. The candy aisle is a few rows over and the gummy bears and worms are there but no fruit snacks. 

 

Our Hy-Vee (grocery store) also has them in the cereal aisle tucked over by the boxed juices and Kool aid packets. The candy aisle is close by but the fruit snacks are not stocked with the candy.

 

my supermarket has then in with the sweet snack cakes and other portable treat food. . 

[Lady Marmalade]

We've tried the Black Forest snacks, too. I liked the flavor but the texture left something to be desired and ruined the experience. The one's we had were cow shaped. I wonder if we had a bad/old box.

 

This particular one is fruit shaped and has a liquid center like a Gusher.  The gummy itself has a great texture- nice bounce that doesn't stick to the teeth, and then the burst of liquid is just a nice punch of flavor.  Really, for a fruit snack they impress me.  

 

Our store must have gotten a deal on them because they are club sized packages and they're selling them for just $4.  I've been thinking of going back for a second box. 

[happypamama]

Junk food, similar to granola bars, somewhere between a snack and a dessert. But in both groups there are less bad and more bad options. Flavored with veggies and fruits, no hfcs, whole grains (granola bars) means less bad, IMO. I do feel like they have a little redeeming value compared to candy (except maybe they're sort of comparable to peanut M&Ms -- a little nutrition), and I put them all in the same category as Ritz crackers. I won't pretend that they're real fruit or allow them to substitute for real fruits and veggies, but I feel like there are worse things my kids could eat, especially since they eat a decently varied diet.

 

ETA: ALDI has fruit snacks and granola bars with the other snack food like crackers and cookies. Our Giant has them, I believe, together also, but not with candy.

Edited September 23, 2016 by happypamama