COTW Happenings
Lots of stuff going on at Cream of the West. Our new Office Manager, Liane, is a total quick-study and is getting our office back into ship-shape condition. Mikey has joined Stacy the last few weeks to help make another 2,500 pounds of backpack crunch, to be distributed to students by the Montana Food Bank Network. Bobby has been busy studying possible machine upgrades and building redesigns. And Alicia and I have been catching up!
Did you know?
As it turns out, breakfast cereal had its origins because of the vegetarian movement of the mid-1800’s. The first commercially successful cereal was manufactured in Akron, Ohio, and made from oats.
Granola got its roots from a biscuit made of ground-up wheat, oats, and cornmeal, invented in 1877 by John Harvey Kellogg. That beginning led to the founding of the Kellogg Company in 1906. Within three years the new company had sold their millionth case of the ever popular “Kellogg’s Corn Flakes”.
In the 20’s the push began to target children. With the refinement of the flour to reduce fiber and the addition of sugar to add sweetness, the new breakfast cereals looked starkly different from their original purpose.
Muesli is a breakfast cereal based on rolled oats, dried fruit, and nuts, developed in the early 1900’s by a Swiss physician for his patients. Hot cereals are cereal grains made palatable by soaking or boiling to soften, and sweetened during or after the cooking process with honey, syrup, or sugar.
Interesting that the breakfast cereal trend has come full circle – back to the desire for 100% all-natural whole grains, like Cream of the West hot cereals and Montana Crunch!