"Sugar is the new tobacco"

Although most of my posts have included sugar in a jovial manner, it is important to highlight the real health risks that sugar poses in our everyday lives. 

In an NHS article, "Is sugar causing the obesity 'epidemic'?" (January 2014), it is recognised that there is a link between "high sugar consumption and the rise in obesity and diabetes". 

Professor Simon Capewell, of the University of Liverpool, stated that "sugar is the new tobacco. Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children...". Nonetheless, as the NHS body point out, there is more than one variable to consider in the contribution to Britain's obesity "problem". 

Government campaigns, such as the Change4Life campaign encourage the public to cut the amount of sugar in their diets, and opting for sugar-free or reduced sugar varieties instead. 

As with the books we've looked at in this blog, sugar can be dangerous and deceptive. The witch in Hansel and Gretel uses her sugar house to tempt the children in, and the sugary treats in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, allows us to see the risks of gluttony. 

If you're interested in the NHS article, follow the link below.

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/01january/pages/sugar-obesity-qa.aspx#tobacco 

"Run, run, as fast as you can,You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"

(The Gingerbread Boy)

These were the mischevious words of the Gingerbread Boy, in a tale first printed in 1875, in the May issue of St Nicholas Magazine.

The fairytale starts with "a little old woman and a little old man, [who] lived by themselves in a little old house". The use of the word "little" implies the poverty in which the man and woman live in. The story then goes on to say that "They had no little boys and no little girls". As a child reader, this made me sad. Two "little old" people surely deserve to have children, don't they? 

"One day, the little old woman said to the little old man, "I shall make a little boy out of gingerbread"

Alas, respite was given to my sticky little mind, and - as with all the children's books we have looked at - a sweet treat is given to the readers to make them feel happy again and it's clear that sugar is used in this tale to sweeten the old couple's situation. This time, however, the characters aren't urged to EAT the sugar, as it comes in the form of a little gingerbread boy! Instead, like the old couple, the reader wants to look after him and treat him like a normal little boy. 

As an adult reader, it seems ludicrous that somebody would make a son out of gingerbread because they hadn't had any children. It could even be argued that Freud's unheimlich or uncanny can be applied to this fairytale. 

On the other hand, my young mind was convinced that I had cracked it. THIS is how children are made. 

Don't have a child? No problem, all you need is:

100g of gingerbread

A shape cutter (girl or boy, it's really up to you)

2 fat currants for the eyes

Bits of lemon peel for the nose and mouth

Sugar for the coating (otherwise known as 'skin')

Method:  mix the gingerbread, until flesh-like. Roll the gingerbread on a lightly floured surface and cut the shape of either your little boy or little girl. Place on a baking tin. Put the sugary skin on your little child-to-be; remember to make this layer moderately thick. Add the currants and lemon peel, wherever you want - it's your child after all. Pop into a pre-heated oven and cry "Oho! Now I shall have a little gingerbread boy [or girl] of my own"

"The little old woman put the gingerbread boy into the oven to bake"

In an hour or so, you should have a warm, sugary child, who will try to get away from you, the first chance they get. 

Ta-daaaaaa.

N.B. If you want multiple children, just increase the quantities to suit.

It is important to know, however, that the oven was seen as a symbol for the womb or "transformation of life" (Zach Kopinski's Blog: http://zachkopinski.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/new-look-at-gingerbread-man.html )

Of course, however, the gingerbread boy doesn't get too far - after encountering a cow and a horse, he met a "sly old fox". 

As a child, who was well versed in Chicken Licken, I knew that THIS IS BAD. 

As it so happens, the gingerbread boy and the fox encounter a river which the little boy cannot cross without the help of the sly animal. 

"Little gingerbread boy, you are too heavy for my back...Jump onto my nose"

Predictable as it may be, the gingerbread boy is "tossed" into the air and gobbled up by the fox. 

I chose this tale for my blog because I think it's interesting to recognize that here, it's the sugar that's being tempted by an animal. In Hansel and Gretel and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, sugar is used as a medium to corrupt the children in the respective books and is used as a device to lure a child reader in. 

"The fox opened his mouth and snap went his teeth"

Bye-bye, Gingerbread Boy. 

"It was a warm, bubbly, mushy nectar, sweet and tangy. It felt like heaven as it flowed over his dry mouth and down his parched throat"

(Holes)

In Louis Sachar's novel Holes (1998), Stanley Yelnats is sent to Camp Green Lake as a punishment for being accused of stealing some trainers. At the camp, he meets Zero, a young boy who he forms a friendship with.

Readers are told that a hundred and ten years prior to Stanley and his story, Green Lake was "the largest lake in Texas...It was especially beautiful in the spring, when the peach tress, which lined the shore, bloomed with pink and rose-coloured blossoms". Peaches are emphasised greatly in this back-story, as readers follow Miss Katherine Barlow and her famous spiced peaches. 

Peaches are traditionally a Chinese symbol for vitality and purity. It is significant that Sachar uses this fruit in particular, as it reflects the nature of Miss Katherine Barlow; sweet and gentle. Her spiced peaches were said to be "food for the angels", and this is echoed in the respite the old 'sploosh' gives Stanley and Zero, when they are stranded in the desert.  

In contrast to the previous books we've looked at, the sweet treat in Holes is peaches, something natural and seen as typically nutritious. The peaches save Stanley and Zero from dehydration, and some readers may even be left with a craving for peaches; especially after the "warm, bubbly, mushy nectar" which is described. 

I chose this book to compare with the likes of Hansel and Gretel, or The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; because readers witness the sugary fruit provide much needed sustenance - albeit minimal - for Zero and Stanley; that is, the sugary ‘sploosh’ is their saviour in the hot desert.   

Here's a recipe I found on https://www.scholastic.com/holes/popups/peachrecipes.htm......They are DELICIOUS.

Kissin’ Kate Barlow’s Spiced Peaches

In the book, the residents of Green Lake call Miss Katherine’s spiced peaches “food for the angels.” If you’d like to try a taste of heaven, here’s a recipe to help you and an adult re-create Kate Barlow’s prize-winning spiced peaches.

Ingredients

1 can (29 ounces) peach halves, drained (save the syrup in a separate bowl)

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

In a saucepan, combine 2/3 cup of the peach syrup with all the other ingredients except the peaches. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Pour over peaches. Cool, then cover and chill for at least 24 hours (or 110 years!).

Bring to room temperature and eat. Any leftover peaches will keep in the refrigerator for a week.

Serves 6.

"I just thought if you had any toffee to give me I'd let you slide down my slippery-slip...I let people use it if they pay me toffee"

(The Enchanted Wood)

Enid Blyton's classic story, called The Enchanted Wood (1939), was - and still is - a firm favourite from my childhood. 

Every night, before going to bed, my sister would read me the story; the magical creatures of the wood would have me wanting to hear more and more, to the point at which it became impossible to even imagine sleeping. The characters are one aspect of the book which enticed my little mind; however there was always something else that kept me coming back to the book time and time again.....TOFFEE.

My craving for the toffee that Blyton writes of has yet to be satiated. The day I find a toffee which lives up to gum-sticking, delicious toffee in The Enchanted Wood, will be a wonderful day for my sweet tooth. 

The three children in the story are siblings, called Jo, Bessie and Fanny. One night, they venture into the woods near their home and discover a magical congregation of fairies. Through their journey up the mysterious Faraway Tree, the children encounter a "round moon-like face", who helps them get down from the tree, in exchange for a sweet treat.

It is at this moment that a reader can recognise the importance of the toffee for the three children. After admitting that they had no toffee to exchange with Moon-Face, he simply "slammed his door shut". Toffee is used as a commodity in this book, the paying of toffee to Moon-Face somewhat echoes the reward of Turkish Delight to Edmund, in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Moon-Face is not, however betraying his siblings; and in fact, at the mention of home made toffee, he "[beams]" at the children and allows them to use his slide down the Faraway Tree. What a darling. 

"Oh my!" said Moon-Face, looking with great delight into the bag. "What lovely toffee!"

 As with the other books we've looked at, sugar can't be included without a healthy dose of gluttony. 

"[Moon-Face] crammed four large pieces into his mouth and sucked with joy"

The act of stuffing one's face is generally thought of as gluttonous; and harks back to Augustus Gloop, in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, who tried to get as much chocolate into his mouth as he could.What’s more, the inclusion of this in a children’s book may add a didactic element to Dahl - and Blyton’s - writing; that is, through the use of Augustus’ greed, child readers are aware of the dangers of gluttony.

Moon-Face's joy at receiving the toffee is indicative of a child's delight when receiving a treat, however the point at which his enjoyment becomes gluttony is his inability to speak, as a result of all the toffee in his mouth. 

"Oh dear, we shan't be able to get anything out of him at all whilst he's eating toffee"

As a child reader, I always found Moon-Face's "Ooble ooble[s]" hilarious. As an adult reader, I find them frustrating. Jo, Bessie and Fanny need information about this enchanted place, however, as a result of Moon-Face's cramming, he is unable to warn them of the dangers. 

Indeed, Fanny recognises that Moon-Face failed to warn Jo of the dangers: "Your mouth was full of toffee and all you could say was 'Ooble-ooble-ooble!' And how could we know what that meant?" 

Give him his credit, however, if I was handed a bag of delicious toffee, there would be absolutely no chance of getting a conversation out of me. 

True, there must be a little bit of gluttony in all of us, and when it comes to sugary treats, I am never one to say no!  

Yes please. 

"But Augustus was deaf to everything except the call of his enormous stomach. He was now...lapping up the chocolate like a dog"

(Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

Roald Dahl's books have all transcended through the decades for their reputation as witty and ingenious for any child reader. Dahl frequently deals with issues such as poverty and greed in society; as he does in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964). 

In this book, Dahl uses the chocolate factory as a device to filter out his characters, leaving our protagonist, Charlie Bucket as a symbol of a 'perfect' and moral child. The poverty which Charlie lives in is told to readers from the beginning, yet we are also told that "[t]he one thing he longed for more than anything else was...CHOCOLATE". Immediately, the child and the child reader are lured into the luxurious and satisfying topic of chocolate.

In Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, chocolate is described as "creamy" and nutritious; it satiates Charlie's hunger, as opposed to the bland cabbage soup the Buckets have day after day. It is significant that sugar in this book is used to represent nourishment - it is full of milk and cream, both of which are filling. Chocolate is also seen as iconic to Charlie, and the reader, in how "Only once a year, on his birthday, did Charlie ever get to taste a bit of chocolate". He would "treasure it as though it were a bar of solid gold". 

Readers are later told about "Mr Wonka and the Indian Prince", a story which describes the epitome of greed and needless desire. Prince Pondicherry wanted a "colossal palace, [made] entirely out of chocolate". Not to eat, however, but to LIVE in. If that doesn't shout out greed, then I don't know what does.

"soon after this, there came a very hot day with a boiling sun, and the whole place began to melt...and the crazy prince...woke up to find himself swimming in a huge brown sticky lake of chocolate" 

In this chapter, chocolate is used as a function; that is, it is used as building blocks of a palace, instead of its normal function (providing mouth-scoffing bliss to anyone at any-time need). This is impractical and greedy, perhaps a little ironically, seeing as the prince refused to even "nibble the staircase or lick the walls". The use of the words "nibble" and "lick" are somewhat sensual and almost primal - perhaps suggesting the indulgence and luxuriousness of Wonka's chocolate. 

Dahl then turns the delicious chocolate into a "brown sticky lake", which shows the excess and revulsion of the sugary 'treat'. It is this way that the reader is manipulated into desiring the chocolate, but is then forced to recognise the problems with consumption and greed. 

Which brings us to the embodiment of greed within the novel.......

"The picture showed a nine-year-old boy who was so enormously fat he looked as though he had been blown up with a powerful pump"

Dear Augustus Gloop; the podgy, round boy whose hobby is eating. When Augustus sets his sights on the chocolate river in the factory, there's no stopping this eating machine. The way he is described as "lapping up the chocolate like a dog" degrades Augustus to an animal. What's more, Dahl once again manipulates his readers into feeling not only guilty, but disgusted too. Who wouldn't like to drink molten chocolate from a chocolate river?! Fantasizing about this and actually doing this, are two different matters, however, and chocolate is used to seduce Augustus into the river, ultimately contaminating the chocolate and the reader's fantasies of a lovely, creamy, chocolate river. 

Thanks, Gus. 

"...this was enchanted Turkish Delight and anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it...till they killed themselves"

(The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe)

For today's post, we will be looking at C.S.Lewis' classic novel The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (1950). As a child reading his book, I often found myself craving the White Witch's sumptuous Turkish Delight. My young mind envisaging the powdery, squishy, sugary goodness piled high upon the kitchen table; I would scramble down the stairs in a rush to find anything sweet that I could grab with my chubby little sausage-fingers. 

Yet amidst the rose tinted (or flavoured, as the case may be) haze of a sugar rush, Lewis' Turkish Delight always left me feeling slightly uneasy. Through Lewis' use of language, readers are made to feel unstable within the novel - Edmund begins to trust this woman, who is described as "cold and stern", with her "eyes flaming". Why does he trust her? 

The answer is... *drum roll please*

SUGAR!

A sweet drink and Turkish Delight are used to tempt Edmund into revealing all to the White Witch. 

"The dwarf immediately took [the jewelled cup] and handed it to Edmund with a bow and a smile; not a very nice smile"

"Edmund felt much better as he began to sip the hot drink. It was something he had never tasted before, very sweet and foamy and creamy" 

Edmund is given a sweet drink to 'warm him up', however it is used as a way for the witch to lure him into her grasp. What's more, the dwarf's bitter-sweet delivery of the drink to Edmund implies that something is not quite right in Narnia. It doesn't take a detective to figure out that the dwarf and the witch are villains. 

Edmund, however, has one thing on his mind. Sugar, of course.

As if the "sweet and foamy and creamy" drink wasn't enough, he asks for MORE sweets. This time though, the witch is careful to conjure up something which will entice Edmund further - the infamous Turkish Delight.

This isn't any old Turkish Delight though. This is "enchanted Turkish Delight", used to squeeze out all the information the witch can get from Edmund about his brothers and sisters.  

Much like the witch in Hansel and Gretel, the White Witch uses sugary treats to tempt the young boy into her evil plan.

This, along with the sweet drink, is the device used by Lewis which pin points the moment at which Edmund's mind is corrupted with the treats that the witch has given him, causing him to betray his own siblings in his quest for more of the Turkish Delight. 

 

 *Dang it, Edmund!* 

 

  

"When they came closer, they saw that the little house was built entirely from bread with a roof made of cake, and the windows were made of clear sugar" 

(Hansel and Gretel)

Hansel and Gretel is a beloved fairytale, written by Jacob and Wilhem Grimm, first published in 1812. 

As most of us know, it is a story about two young siblings, Hansel and Gretel, who fall for an evil witch's plan to tempt them into her house by building a house made of sugary treats in order to lure the young children in. 

As a child, being read Hansel and Gretel was always a melancholy experience - could the food I loved (everything sugary) be used as bait for young children, by an evil witch with "red eyes" and "a sense of smell like animals"? 

Indeed, the glorious illustrations accompanying the tale always filled my mind with indulgent pastries and soft, sugary breads. But I became increasingly aware of the dangers of sugar in books: it seemed as if sweet treats were given to trap young children, tear them away from their lives of comfort and safety; and plunge them in to a world with evil witches and scary monsters.

This definitely is the case in Hansel and Gretel, however the moment of their liberation is a celebration of children against witches; a time where any child reader can be returned safely back to the comfort of the real world, where the only sugar houses existing are the gingerbread houses made at Christmas time.