In Defense of Marshmallows
Isaac Kemsley, Salmonberry Kindergarten Teacher
Madrona School, Bainbridge Island, Washington
Now I would like to preface this little essay with the disclaimer that I am usually a very conscientious eater and healthy cook for my family. I was raised on an organic, whole-grain diet with very little refined sugar. I spent years as a vegetarian and did a short stint in the early 2000’s as a vegan. I have tried to model healthy habits for my children and they have grown up similarly as I did; with a vegetable rich, light on the carbohydrates, healthy variety of protein menu in our home.
Of course, I have a little more relaxed feeling around the occasional intake of a sugary treat (now and again) in my household than my mother did when I was a child. Perhaps because I don’t want to make the forbidden fruit more powerful than it already is. I am not here to celebrate the virtues or benefits of the refined juice of the cane plant (or sugar beet). But there is a time and a place for a celebratory scoop of ice cream, a post meal square of chocolate, or even gummy bears on a ski day. In my family, we have decided that is ok.
However, I draw the line at corn syrup. The highly refined, barely digestible, created in a laboratory for the intent of ratcheting up the sweet level in highly processed foods past eleven, frankenfood is not something that I will purchase or condone for my children to consume… unless… It's a campfire marshmallow.
I know. Where is your righteous condemnation, now, you say?
I have no excuse. However, I will say that like birthday cake to mark a special day, candy canes unwrapped on Christmas morning, or cotton candy spun at the county fair, a marshmallow roasted to perfection over a campfire has become a treat symbolic of summertime campouts and backyard celebrations.
Some folks eat them in hot cocoa while others sandwich them between chocolate and graham crackers. My family competes amongst ourselves to get the perfect golden glow roasted upon their puffy surface. To me (and my family) it is a taste that marks a seasonal high point that is more ritual than such a simple dessert probably deserves to be.
Even now, as the evenings grow shorter, and you may still have fires in your back yards and on the local beaches, I encourage you to ease back on your restraint and indulge in a little roast sugar and welcome this season with a sticky smile.
