Jack pulled a sit pad from his pack. The pad was simply a section of an old sleeping pad he carried to provide a little cushion from the cold ground on winter hikes. He positioned it on a fallen tree. He pulled on a fleece layer over his head, and put his hat back on. There was a slight breeze here on the summit. Reaching into his pack, he removed a bag of snacks he had purchased earlier when he arrived the night before. The bag read “protein chips.” On the back was a logo that proclaimed “Made in USA”
Jack mused about this. He’d always assumed his junk food snacks were made in the USA. He imagined himself rummaging through the snacks in the snacks aisle at the supermarket now to determine which ones we’re made locally. Not that it mattered. Jack did not feel the need to be patriotic in his snack purchases. Flavor, and how healthy they are was more important. Plenty of food in the U.S. could kill you much faster than products not produced domestically.
While he considered his lunch ingredients, his hiking partner drew forth an item from his pack, wrapped in foil.
“what have you got there Nick?” asked Jack.
Nick unwrapped the shiny foil ingot.
“A sweet potato.”
Jack looked it over. The reddish orange tuber stuck out of the wrapper, it’s skin somewhat shriveled.
“Hmm, that’s interesting.” said Jack.
Nick explained that he was trying to eat healthy, whole foods.
Jack nodded. He seemed unconvinced. “No butter on that Nick? No salt? Just a cold potato?
Nick nodded. Jack thought Nick did not appear enthusiastic about eating the potato. Jack looked back at his chips. They too were orange, but not a “natural” color. He wasn’t sure what they were made from. What ever it had been, it was now an orange chip, almost perfectly round. Not a real “food shape.”
“But you cooked it, right Nick?”
Nick regarded him dryly.
Jack ate the chips. They tasted ok, but he’d definitely have preferred a HOT sweet potato, with a little butter or olive oil, and just a touch of salt or pepper.
An Unmapped Route: A Hiker's Blog 