Anastasia's Pointless Rant About Annie's
1 protagonist, Annie Withey
2 successful yuppie product launches, Smart Food & Annie's Mac & Cheese
1 giant packet of powdered marketing buzzwords
1/2 c. piss
1 T. vinegar
Directions
Throw protagonist into boiling pot. Add products [hint: they're in your own damn cupboard]. Add piss and vinegar. Empty packet contents, coating all sides until completely covered. Serves one bitter parent.
The bunny vs The Blue Box [salon]
update: besides the tone of this piece, I think its main point is just wrong: there is a meaningful difference between the ingredients for Kraft & Annie's. A Crain's Chicago report quoted by Consumerist talks about the bogosity of "Real" Kraft Mac & Cheese, where "real" = "processed to the point that no actual cheeses survive onto the ingredients list." Annie's equally unregulated term, "totally natural," meanwhile, ends up meaning, "Contains Cheddar Cheese (Cultured Pasteurized Milk, Salt, Enzymes), Whey, Buttermilk, Butter, Salt." Is that different enough for you?
If not, there's the Certified Organic Mac & Cheese, too.
you nailed it. what a ridiculous article.
While agree that the piss and vinegar weren't necessary ingredients, I have to agree with her analysis that Annie's is not much better than Kraft and that homemade "food" is better than nutritionist and consumerist substitutes. Can you tell I just got done reading Michael Pollan's essay in last week's Sunday Times Magazine lambasting "The Age of Nutritionism" and advocating a return to the eating of "food"? Pollan has to be one of the best food writers out there.
[I don't dispute her point, but all it takes is to read the label. Not all of us go around thinking we're angels for feeding the kid "good" mac&cheese. But it's a fat lie to pretend that the only difference between a box and homemade is "grate cheese," too. If I want the kid to eat homemade Mac&cheese, I'll take her to Outback. -ed.]
What a joke. Annie's is way better than Kraft. When you make it according to the directions, it generally has much less fat and salt than the Kraft stuff. Also, I buiy it because it DOES NOT HAVE all the fake colors, fake milk lab product, etc. It is pasta and real cheese. What a stupid article on Salon. No wonder I killed my subscription a year ago.
This reminds of the people who criticize corporate philanthropy because the company was just in it for the image. Annie's IS better than Kraft -- it has fewer additives, and it tastes better, too.
We know that water is better than Diet Coke, but Diet Coke is still a better choice than Coke Classic.