We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So what do you eat at such an important dish? If you are like approx. half of the people in the United States of America, you are most likely, with a bowl of milk and cereal in front of you. But do you know the history of this sweet delicious breakfast?
Cereal History
Before cereal took on sugar and used cartoon characters as marketing mascots, it was a healthy food product.
During the Civil War, Americans were having gastrointestinal issues due to their meat-based diet. From the need of a more balanced diet, the cereals were invented. They were made out of dense bran nuggets, quite hard to swallow and had to be left overnight to soak to make them more easy to digest.
The inventor of those bran nuggets was Dr. James Caleb Jackson. He operates a health resort sanitarium, in which patrons come to improve their health and enjoy the spa.
One of the clients there formed Seventh Day Adventist religion and John Kellogg, member of the religion, dedicated his life to healthy food and with patience crate granola. Together with his brother, Will Kellogg, he continued to invent meatless breakfast foods and managed to discover a process that allowed wheat to flake. This is how corn flakes were invented.
Charles William Post, while trying to recover from a nervous breakdown, happens to meet the brothers Kellogg, and gets inspired to continue his interest in coffee products and breakfast foods. He was able to create his own brand of corn flakes, known as Post Toasties and also, what is today known, as Grape-nuts.
In 1939, the cereal faith as a health food started to change. The first sweetened cereal was Ranger Joe Popped Wheat Honnie and opened a gate to more sweetened products and cereal boxes with cartoon characters on them.
How to Celebrate Cereal Day
Simple, enjoy your cereal!
You can also try something new, like warm cereal instead of cold, or make some sort of cereal treat.
Have fun and enjoy Cereal Day!
