We Are All Made of Star(burst)s

Being consistent is not an easy task. I've half-assed many a thing in my almost 33 years, and sometimes old habits die hard.

When I walked back from the ladies' loo today at work and passed the candy bowl, I delighted to snatch a couple of Starbursts from the pile.  Starbursts in the work candy dish are a rare treat. It is usually populated with the red-and-white striped boring mints, old man Worthers candies, and the occasional Hershey's miniatures cache. But as I was happily giving my fillings a run for their money by chomping on a small handful of pink and red fruit chews, I had a troubling thought. Gelatin.

Most gelatin, as we all know, is made of pork connective tissue.  Gross, huh?  Anyone want some pork-flavored starbursts? Of course, there are a bajillion other reasons why Starbursts should never have been unwrapped for my mouth in the first place, including artificial colors, high fructose corn syrup, boatloads of other sugars and fake stuff, etc, etc. But those are all topics for the other blog.

The obvious question staring me in the face this afternoon is whether I'm committed to giving up ALL meat-based ingredients. In my head, I'm totally there.  Pork-based particularly, since there is so much great evidence that pigs are as smart and social as most dogs. Marshmallows are pretty much only a camp-out treat, so I can afford to spend $8 a bag once a year on some pig-friendly s'more ingredients. But there are sooooo many candies (and many breath mints and gum) that still use gelatin. Which I'm ready to give up starting now, even before the other blog or the G3 project officially launches.

I really think the trick may be to focus on what I GAIN rather than what I am giving up. Considering most of the things I can think of that have gelatin in them are junk food, this should be a super win-win for my body. And, thankfully, Swedish Fish are 100% veg. Not especially good for me, but a welcome bastion of chewy candy goodness.

Good thing I enjoyed those Starbursts this afternoon, since they will be my last. Hooray! My skin and tummy pooch are thanking me already.