Canada's
Diet: Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!
We
fed our children sugar by the car
loads, and sugar came into our homes in a vast exciting array of
packages, jars, and boxes.
I will expose our sugar addiction, with happy memories, as sugar connected itself to all holidays, such as birthdays
and Christmas times, but also to just plan dessert.
Dessert
was your
treat or reward for getting through
the first course of beef, potatoes, carrots, peas, and corn niblets.
Dessert came every
night, like clockwork, though the Canadian morning started off quite excitingly with a great deal
of sugar.
First,
there was cereal, which usually had a double whammy of sugar.
Sugar frosted flakes, the sugar was
already in the cereal, and then there was brown or white sugar sitting
on the breakfast
table. Health conscious parents
bought Shreddies or Corn Flakes so the sugar was only served once.
Then
was the toast with strawberry jam or
orange marmalade. There was Nestle's chocolate powder to spoon into
your morning
milk. French toast or pancakes were more special weekend treats, with options
of maple syrup, real or simulated,
to add.
All sugared up and ready to go, we
raced off to schools and offices.
Lunch
was a bit of a let down, with my mother chopping up carrots and celery
sticks, and even conscientiously adding
cartons of raisins to my lunches,
with sandwiches of tuna fish, devilled egg, or cheese and lettuce. Not
too muchsugar
about, sometimes a couple of small
thin cookies.
The
most touching
comment our mothers made came just
before dinner time, "Don't let me catch you eating candies, you will
spoil your appetite
for your dinner."
As
though the earlier sugar stuffing that went on throughout our entire
Canadian Day had never occurred. As
though we were not already looking forwards to the ice cream, pies, or
cake that
would follow the boring first course
of hamburger patties and mixed frozen vegetables.
Like plants, we grew on sunshine and fresh air and
the grace of God.
