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Everyone knows that starting the day without breakfast isn't good for you. So what do you usually eat in the morning? Eggs, bagels, or toast? Poll results show that over half of 4,658 people normally eat milk, cereal, and juice for breakfast.
Do you ever wonder where breakfast came from? The word 'cereal' originally came from the name Ceres, the pre-Roman goddess of harvesting and agriculture. Cereal originated in the vegetarian movement in the last quarter of the ninteenth century. Seventh-day Adventist Church was influenced by it, and others continued to follow. The main Western breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, and beef, until 1863, when Granula was invented in the United States. James Caleb Jackson, the man who invented Granula, was an operator of the Jackson Sanitorium in Dansville, New York and a true vegetarian. Granula consisted of heavy bran nuggets that needed soaking overnight before they were tender enough to be eaten. The early cereal really never caught on because of its inconvenience.
The next generation of cereals was much more convenient, and not to mention tastier, than the one before it. In 1877, John Harvey Kellogg, who operated the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, invented a biscuit made of ground up wheat, oatmeal and corn meal for patients who suffered from bowel issues. It was originally named Granula but he got sued and he changed it to "Granola". Although, John's most famous invention was an accident! Have you ever heard of Corn Flakes? Well it was made by Kellogg accidentally leaving boiled wheat to soak overnight and rolling it out in the morning. Quite a discovery to wake up in the morning to, if I might say so myself! John Harvey Kellogg never actually got into the cereal business, although, someone pretty close to him did! John's brother, Will Keith Kellogg, later bought out his brother's share in the business and later founded the Kellogg company in 1906. After only three years, Kellogg's sold their one-millionth case! Because of Kellogg, Battle Creek, Michigan is now nicknamed the "cereal city".
In the 1930's, Kix, the first puffed cereal went onto the market. After World War II, most well known cereal companies started to target children more than adults. Sugar was eventually added to the once healthy breakfasts, and they began to look surprisingly different from the original fiber-rich Granula. Kellogg's also went through the drastic change and went from their whole wheat Corn Flakes to a sugary cereal named Sugar Smacks which in all had 56% sugar by weight. Later on, mascots were introduced such as Tony the Tiger, the Rice Krispies elves, and Trix Rabbit.
Now you know the "crunch" on cereal. So, tomorrow morning when you open up your box of Frosted Flakes or Lucky Charms, you will remember how dramatically cereal changed. From the inconvenient chunky old bran that you need to soak overnight, to the convenience of just opening up your cupboard and in about two minutes have a tasty and not to mention sugary breakfast.
-ooodude85
Author's Note: Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_cereal
http://life.familyeducation.com/tv/pollresult.php
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