This may not be the best time to scream at ice cream. After all, it’s summer and the living is easy. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an independent, nonprofit group, evidently dedicated to taking all of the fun out of life, is taking on most of our sacred, cow product companies. Their targets include Ben & Jerry’s, Haagen-Dazs and Baskin-Robbins. According to Reuters, the group is particularly critical of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey cones (supposedly 820 calories and 10 grams of saturated fat) and Haagen-Dazs’s sundae in a cup, Mint Chip Dazzler, which allegedly contains 1,270 calories and 38 grams of fat. The group fails to see the cultural and healthy aspects of ice cream, which most Americans recognize as a basic food group. My trusty 1965 edition of World Book notes, "Ice cream is one of the most popular and most nourishing foods in our diet." At that time, Americans were happily buying 700 million gallons of ice cream a year. Granted, times were simpler then. "Grams" was your mother’s mother and "saturated" was another way of saying, "very wet." First Lady Dolley Madison served ice cream to her guests in 1809, shortly before the British invasion of the Capital and the burning of the White House. Although no strong link between the introduction of ice cream and the invasion has been established, the ice cream undoubtedly made the events seem more bearable. We may not have the same type of royalty as England, Spain and other countries, but the ice cream study makes a mockery of every royalty member we have dedicated to ice cream and other dairy products. The study minimizes the important roles butter, ice cream, cottage cheese, and dairy princesses play in our lives. Without the presence of beautiful dairy product princesses in our community parades, the processions would be little more than a high school band, a couple of shiny tractors and candy thrown to curbside kids from tire trucks. Ice cream sodas are present in romantic scenes in big screen movies, such as "Our Town." Can we possibly imagine George Gibbs and Emily Webb discussing life in the same way over carrot sticks? Ice cream also plays an important role in "When Harry Met Sally," notably when the Meg Ryan character tells the waitress, "I’d like the pie heated, and I don’t want the ice cream on top, I want it on the side. And I’d like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it. If not, then no ice cream, just whipped cream, but only if it’s real." What drama! What writing! This particular movie scene, centered around ice cream, serves to make our lives seem meaningful and worthwhile. We can only hope similar screen dialogues will impress archeologists of the distant future and they won’t judge us too harshly. As noted before, the health benefits of ice cream are truly encyclopedic. Cream, like any dairy product, is essential for strong bones and teeth. Eggs, and occasionally chopped nuts, provide protein. Fruits, included in certain flavors, and healthy sounding vegetable gum stabilizers are just what the doctor ordered. It’s time to stop bad-mouthing ice cream, and start mouthing it instead.
