R.I.P Twinkie

The daily rundown has brought news of an impending death. Today we must all bid farewell to the Hostess Twinkie. This morning, Hostess Brands Inc. made good its threats to liquidate the company in the wake of crippling debt and an unresolvable strike by it second largest union. The loss of over 18,000 jobs is tremendously sad and I feel great sympathy for those who will find themselves on the unemployment line, but I have to ask.....Should we be lamenting the loss of a product that is a nutritional vacuum and is a contributing destructive influence to our mutual health and well-being?

Twinkies list 37 or so ingredients on their package. 37!!! In his book Twinkie Deconstructed Steve Ettlinger plays detective and follows the ingredients found in some of our processed foods. Many are "often more closely linked to rocks and petroleum than any of the four food groups." Without getting into the grisly details, suffice it to say that there is more unnatural (in strictly eating terms) about a Twinkie than is natural. I mean, there must be a reason that the snack cake could survive a fall from a sixth floor window mostly intact, yes?

I get it. Twinkies and their Hostess cousins Cupcakes, HoHos, Devil Dogs, SnoBalls are a part of our collective nostalgia. We recall them in a sentimental haze along with Partridge Family lunch boxes and noontime double dutch competitions. But there are many products that were popular at the time; a time when we simply didn't know any better. Supposedly we do now. Would we feel this sadness if it were a cigarette, asbestos, or lead-based paint company ceasing operations? How many of us truly feel just fine about including a Twinkie in our kid's lunches?

I am not trying to dance on a grave yet cold. I really hope beyond hope that these workers find employment soon. I am simply wondering if perhaps a natural selective process, consumers making wiser and healthier food choices, has contributed to the Twinkies' fall from grace. We may economically and nostalgically lament the loss today, but won't we and our children will be healthier for it tomorrow?