Helping Preserve Our Parks

I don't eat granola bars but Mom sometimes does especially when doing field work. She has eaten this brand in the past and liked it. Who doesn't like oats and honey? I think I would even like them but before I'm allowed to eat them let's take a look at the ingredients.

Oats and Honey ingredients:
whole grain oats, sugar, canola oil, yellow corn flower, honey, soy flour, brown sugar syrup, salt, soy lecithin, baking soda, natural flavor.

Hmmmm. These ingredients sound good to me but not to Mom. She has issues with everything. I mean really, whole grain oats are good for you, right? And sugar? What could be more natural? These ingredients read like a lesson in good health but Mom feels that there are lots of pesticides used in the growing of the ingredients and that most if not all are genetically modified (GMO). Huh?

Eating these granola bars in moderation, like every once in a while is okay. The jury is still out on GMO's but we all know that pesticide consumption is hazardous to your health. Sugar is the second ingredient listed, honey is fourth, and brown sugar syrup is sixth which means these bars are full of sugary sweetness. All that sugar is not good for you on a daily basis. And what is natural flavor? This is Nature Valley's "secret ingredient", the old proprietary ingredient that they don't have to disclose because if they did they then everypug could make their own granola bars. As if! But there may be one reason Mom may want to buy some granola bars for her turtle trip next month.

Nature Valley knows that our national parks are in trouble. They face serious challenges and they need our help. Simply buy specially marked boxes of Nature Valley granola bars and for every wrapper you send in, they will make a 10 cent donation to the National Parks Conservation Association. The contributions will be used to fund 3 different projects in 3 different parks:

Sustaining native plant life in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Freeing Pronghorn migration in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Restoring coral reefs in Biscayne National Park, Florida

The coupon advertisement stated a guaranteed minimum donation of $250,000 and a maximum donation of $500,000 but the website stated a maximum donation of $650,000 (with the same minimum donation). So confusing! Either way, Nature Valley will be making donations through August 31, 2010 and that money will help preserve our national parks for generations to come.

This is Mom's favorite national park, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Even though this is not one of the parks that Nature Valley is helping, she still thinks this is a good cause. Preserving parks preserves not only our heritage but also the biodiversity that must be maintained in order to preserve our lives. We are all interconnected.

I've never been to a national park but that's not for lack of trying. Mom tells me that they don't allow dogs in the parks and while I can't really understand why, I'm not a law breaker so at home I stay. I hear all about the parks when Mom and Dad get home but it's just not the same. Maybe one day the rules will change and off I'll be whisked to a park of my choosing. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park here I come!