Fro-Yo’s a No-Go

Photo Credit: Rachel Fox

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Written by Rachel Fox

Between Miyo, Pinkberry, The Mix, Fraiche and Red Mango, it is impossible to avoid frozen yogurt.  What is with all of these stores popping up within a second’s drive of each other? How can these people possibly ingest so much of the stuff? As more of these yogurt places appear, teens and young adults flock to them, providing seemingly endless revenue for these new franchises.  I think of these people enjoying their food fashion statement and I roll my eyes.

I think the whole thing is an annoying fad. There probably are people somewhere out there who like frozen yogurt for the taste, but then you have people who think they are so cool, raving about how it’s lo- cal, or organic, or full of pro-biotics, or whatever it is they come up with now. Half of the people who claim to love frozen yogurt have only started liking it because of how it is advertised, and half of those people probably don’t even know what they’re talking about. Oh, by the way, I have not yet heard a single boy blab to me about how great fro-yo is. Sounds like a fashion statement to me.

One thing I’ve noticed is that people love the healthy (healthier) toppings you can get for your fro-yo. Frankly, I’m glad that people are increasing the amount of fruit they have in a day. Obviously that’s good for you. Frozen yogurt does have fewer calories than ice cream and overall isn’t as rich as ice cream. It can be great if you want a quick sugar fix.  But of course, then you run into the whole sugar-free gelatin-free fake gummy-like bears, carob chips, and other weirdo imitation candies. I guess I understand how if you are allergic to something, or raw vegan, or for some reason morally cannot eat regular sweets and candy, these are awesome alternatives. But why would any normal person ever, ever, EVER eat carob chips instead of chocolate? If you are going to eat something sweet, you may as well go for the gusto. I guess the problem is that if you ate the more delicious versions every day, you would have an unhealthy habit. But you don’t have to have fro-yo as your cheater ice cream; you don’t have to tell everyone how much better it is. You can have regular ice cream once in a while- enjoy it for crying out loud.

And so I sigh when I think of Yumi Yogurt, TCBY, and Yogurt Stop. Fro-yo has gone in and out of fashion over the years (in its various soft serve and euro-style forms), and I’m sure this isn’t the last time it will be popular. But I will remain proudly among those with the guts to take real ice cream.