SWEET & SOUR!
Marley will never look at a lolly the same again
My daughter has developed a gelatin phobia. This is her older brother’s fault. He announced one day as she was chewing on a jelly baby that “if you knew what was in that, you wouldn’t eat it”.
Cue wide-eyed stare at big brother and interrogation. “Why?” she asked. “Tell me what’s in it?”
“Just stuff you wouldn’t want to eat,” he teased. “Like what?” she insisted. “Like pigs’ toenails and stuff,” he taunted.
“What?!” she exclaimed, spitting out the rest of the lolly. “Is it true, Mum?” She looked at me pleadingly.
“Well, technically gelatin is a substance derived from ...” but before I could finish, her brother had googled it and was traumatising her with pictures of animal bone cartilage. (FYI: Don’t google-image “what gelatin is made of” if you want to ever eat gelatin again.)
“It’s actually good for you,” I continued, “and if you think about it, if we dissected every single little thing we consumed, everything is going to be made up of some bits and pieces we find gross, but ...”
My daughter had taken to tipping jelly babies into the bin, swirling water round her mouth and spitting into the sink like she’d consumed poison.
“Thanks for this, Jackson,” I snarled at her brother. “Don’t give her food phobias.”
“Just stating facts,” he retorted. Ugh, teenagers.
The next day, my daughter came home from school even more aghast. “Mum,” she exclaimed, “did you know there’s palm oil in chocolate?! Not just that, but did you know that to get palm oil, they have to kill the orangutans?” She looked sickened.
“Well, that’s not entirely true,” I stated. “They’re not exactly killing orangutans to get it, they’re cutting down trees – it’s called deforesting and it means there are fewer places for orangutans to live.”
“Exactly!” she trumpeted. “It’s a tragedy for the orangutans, so I’m not eating chocolate now.”
“Well, not all chocolate uses palm oil,” I said.
“Doesn’t matter,” she replied, indignant. “I’m not risking it!” I had to admire her passion. “This is going to make it tough for you, Marley, in terms of treats, so anything with gelatin is out and now all chocolate is out too,” I said. “And there’s gelatin in not just lollies, but also marshmallows and ice cream, so really you’re better just to eat everything in moderation and not worry about taking out specific foods, don’t you think?” “Hmm.” She was thinking. “I mean, there’s no point in making life difficult for yourself and worrying about what’s in things,” I tried to reason.
“But Mum,” my little activist sighed, “the orangutans – I mean, come on!” She folded her arms, resolute.
When her brother came home from school, she couldn’t wait to one-up him. “Jackson, if you think gelatin is bad, palm oil is in chocolate and it’s killing the orangutans!” she huffed. “Case closed.”