Trail Mix Mayhem
By Austin Jewell
I never thought I would argue a stance against candy and sweets. That being said, when I realized the cold hard facts about trail mix I was trying to justify its reasoning. “It’s a fun food, not a fuel food” and “not everyone just eats the candy,” I keep saying to myself. The truth is, though, many people see it as a food for hiking or camp, and that is something I discovered when I was a camp counselor at a Boy Scout camp one summer.
Hiking was a big part of camps. To get to the merit badges, sometimes they were a mile apart and the kids had to walk it. Most of the parents and guardians who came with the kids would buy them water and sports drinks and trail mix and send them on their way. Now everything is fine till we are about to leave for the hike to the mess hall. As we get a quarter of the way there, they always stop and say, “I’m tired” or “I’m hungry.” I ask them what they ate and they always said, “oh I had some trail mix.” I would say, "well, get it out and have some more." They would pull it out and it was now just trail mix without M&Ms. I would have to inform them that you need to eat the actual trail mix and not just the candy, and I would always get the same response, “I don’t like the other stuff.” Granted it is a little overwhelming to 12-year-olds to be up so early and have to walk around, so if candy gets them through it mentally, that's great, but physically it's not. The biggest issue is when we finally reach the mess hall and they go to their parents, the parents are standing there with big bags of trail mix with no candy in sight.
To be fair I think it is a brilliant marketing tactic for companies to lure people into buying more than they actually need. The truth is, though, most people buy trail mix for the M&Ms. I took a survey of some kids from my old Boy Scout Troop and the results were overwhelmingly in the favor of the chocolate. This shows how even those who are actually on the trail a lot still fall for the chocolate. The difference is, though, when I asked those same ten people if they thought that trail mix was healthy, most replied with a no. So they are aware that trail mix is not the best option for a snack. In fact, an article written in Livestrong magazine quotes that “Naturally, trail mix that's loaded with candy bits or sugar sweetened dry fruit will offer more empty calories that don't balance out in terms of nutritional benefits” (Morris). Morris also talks about how the trail mix is only as healthy as the ingredients that are in it, and most people do not put in key nutrients like vitamins and minerals and substitute foods like cashews or dried banana for chocolate or other sugary foods (Morris).
This may seem like an unnecessary argument since people have the right to eat whatever they like, and that's true. I am trying to say simply that if you are buying trail mix and casually eating it, you may want to rethink. Also, if you just want the chocolate then buy it and save some money and some food. All in all, trail mix can be what you put into it, and those who use it correctly will be able to reap the full benefits and rewards, and those who don’t will be huffing and puffing while trying to walk to the mess hall for lunch.
Works Cited
Morris, Tracy. “How Healthy Is Trail Mix?” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 3 Oct. 2017, www.livestrong.com/article/397236-how-healthy-is-trail-mix/.