Breakfast Choices Are Changing and It’s Cereal-sly Concerning

Author: Alanna Fichtel

 

I recently read some incredibly disheartening news. Truly a difficult story to stomach. It just doesn’t make sense to me. How could the greatness of something so special be forgotten?

 

Sadly, it’s true: The world doesn’t love breakfast cereal as much as it used to.

 

You might be wondering how this could be–so here’s a (not too convincing) explanation.

 

Since the 1990s, the sale of breakfast cereals has been declining. Why the fuss? A recent survey done by the Mintel research group reported that 40 percent of millennials said they don’t eat cereal for breakfast because it was too “inconvenient” to clean up.

 

Really? Washing a bowl and spoon, or putting it in this cool new appliance called a dishwasher is too hard? This explanation takes laziness a little too far, even for a busy college student. If you really can’t sacrifice the extra minute, that’s fine, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on cereal. Buy some disposable bowls and spoons. Problem solved.

 

 

Maybe the decline in cereal as a popular breakfast choice is because a lot of people don’t eat breakfast (mistake #1: it’s the most important, and best, meal of the day!)  But that’s one of the beauties of cereal: it’s an all-day, all the time food. I could–and often do–eat cereal with/for any meal of the day. On nights you miss dinner because you were at the library, cereal will not only comfort you in your tiredness, but fill you up (after 2-3 bowls, of course, because you can’t let that leftover milk go to waste).

 

“But cereal isn’t healthy.” Ok, so maybe Cap’n Crunch isn’t the most nutritious food you can eat to start your day. But there are some delicious and satisfying cereals that do provide nutrients and will keep you full till lunchtime. Late night out? Drunk eating cereal is definitely healthier than drunk eating pizza–but most of the time just as satisfying.

 

 

It’s simple, really: Ryan Gosling eats cereal, and so should you.  

 

Maybe some millennials are too lazy to eat cereal, but I don’t think they are really the cause of decline in sales. College students especially love cereal. I definitely wasn’t the only one who ate a bowl with almost every dinner at RPCC. (Still unclear why the dining halls on campus have Kashi cereal but off-brand names for everything else. Pro tip: Honey Nut Scooters are way better than Honey Nut Cheerios).

 

Though my love for cereal developed early in life when I would beg my mom at the grocery store for a sugary cereal to enjoy with Saturday morning cartoons, college definitely made me  expand my cereal horizons. Turns out the marshmallows in Lucky Charms really are the best part. And the cereal aisle at Wegmans is truly remarkable.

 

 

So maybe the world has just become too bored with cereal. But don’t lose sight of the fact that there are tons of choices out there that are sure to bring you happiness at any time of day. As a snack or meal, or just a comforting reminder of childhood, cereal will always be there.