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Read other letters about this article
I haven't seen any other articles by this author, so I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt that this is really a satire on the lost art of the expose. I mean, please. We're not exactly talking about Mike Wallace showing up at your door with a 60 Minutes crew here.
Of course Annie's isn't a health food. It's got powdered damn cheese in it! There is no cheese on the universe that is supposed to come in powdered form. It doesn't mean I don't like it. When I lived overseas, I made visiting guests bring me both Annie's and Kraft dinners to get a little taste of home. In the context of a balanced diet, there's nothing wrong with a little powdered cheese, and I think that most parents know that, even the gullible, organo-hipster parents that she purports to describe. I don't feed my child Annie's dinners because he's not a mac-and-cheese fan, but I have let the occasional Cheddar Bunny pass his lips. He remains alive and well.
I guess the problem--if, indeed, there is one--is that some parents out there might be fooling themselves into thinking that they're offering some kind of fully rounded meal in a pretty purple box, no veggies or fruits or complex carbs required. But honestly, how many parents really think that? Most of us are just doing our best to raise happy, healthy kids, and that sometimes requires an occasional shortcut.
It's a little like Baby Einstein, really. I don't think that having little Graydon watch the occasional half hour of Baby Einstein is going to cause permanent brain damage, but let's not pretend that it's educational. It's a tool to allow us to get a shower occasionally, and that's not going to do anyone any harm.
