Junk Food Nation, I was tipped off to this story by my friend Jarrett.

“A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because a state employee told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious. 

“The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day.

“The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs — including in-home day care centers — to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home. 

“When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones.”

The article goes on to say that if the pre-packed lunch does not contain the right ingredients, that the child care provider will provide additional items.  But that’s not what happened here.  The article’s a little vague, but I get the sense that the school instead gave her an entire OTHER lunch in PLACE of her packed lunch. WTF?  Shouldn’t you have just given her some green beans or something?

Instead of her eating a sandwich made from normal ingredients, you made her eat chicken nuggets? Now, I love a good nugget and will indulge whenever I can, but seriously? I’m not blaming the government – I understand they want kids to have well rounded meals.  Fine.  Even if you’re an anti-government person, that’s not the problem here.  The problem is the interpretation and execution: This school shoulda just added a cup of lettuce to sandwich and been on their merry way.  Morons – now you have all this bad pub.

Onto today’s junk food: Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Greek Frozen Yogurt!

The Money Shot

First of all, I have no idea why I’m on an ice cream kick lately.  It’s really unhealthy because I literally have like ten containers of ice cream in the freezer.  But whatever.

Second, Ben & Jerry’s comes out with new flavors with greater frequency than a hummingbird’s wing flap.  And usually, if it’s not a Limited Batch or a Second Edition or an Exclusive Flavor, I don’t even bother looking at it.  But I had to stop for this: Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Greek Frozen Yogurt.  Frozen Greek Yogurt??

Love the navy Greek trim at the top of the lid

And this is why I do my blog: because there are no effing reviews for Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Greek Frozen Yogurt anywhere on the web.  And maybe there’s a reason for that: no one cares.  Well, whatever – absence of review, NO MORE!  GAME ON, FOODIES!

The Frozen Greek Yogurt isn’t even on the company website.  But in the Giant Food I shopped at, I spotted this flavor, Raspberry Chocolate, and Blueberry Graham Cracker (I think).  Went with this one because I really love shortbread cookies.

Cow with laurel wreath

Across the nation is an influx of froyo places.  You know what I’m talking about: Pinkberry. Yogiberry. Yogurtland. Red Mango. Tangysweet. The tangy frozen Greek yogurt is all the rage nowadays…and by nowadays I mean for the past decade.  But I have a feeling that’s NOT the niche Ben & Jerry’s is trying to get into with this.  Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Greek Frozen Yogurt seems to replicate another froyo place I enjoyed growing up: TCBY.

Crunchy looking shortbread cookies

Apparently, TCBY still exists, but I know I haven’t seen one since I was in high school.  Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Greek Frozen Yogurt meanwhile DOES exist, and they are really pushing the freshness of this frozen yogurt with the big juicy strawberries and cookies up front and center.  Yummy looking.

Rock your Acropolis

These little blurbs on the tubs of B & J always make me chuckle, just because I enjoy a good pun or play-on-words.  Really Greekin’ good?  GUFFAW!

MMMMM locust bean gum

The entire tub being 720 calories isn’t THAT bad…and at least the ingredients look pretty natural. Greek yogurt being the second ingredient was a must.

Fluffy

Opened the lid to my Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Greek Frozen Yogurt, and I immediately noticed how fluffy the contents were.  Reminded me of Edy’s slow churned varieties.  Very light pink, with some bits of strawberry and shortbread cookie already peeking out.

Very soft and malleable

The first bite of this Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Greek Frozen Yogurt went down smooth.  A pretty tasty treat.  The frozen yogurt was very soft and while not silky, per se, was mild.  This did NOT taste like the typical tangy foroyo that is popular these days, like Pinkberry.  This DID taste more of the TCBY style – very soft, fluffy, CREAMY, and not super sweet.  The strawberry flavor was present but not overwhelming, and the little bits of strawberries added an accent here and there.

Shortbread pieces everywhere!

The shortbread cookie pieces in this Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Greek Frozen Yogurt were no bigger than a jellybean, but were plentiful.  I felt like each spoonful had at least one or two pieces.  Added a good crunch with standard shortbread cookie flavor.

All together, it was a good frozen treat.  Sweet strawberry with a light creamy feeling, and bits of crunch.  Light and refreshing – I didn’t feel gross at all after eating many many spoonfuls of this. Nothing WOW-ed me flavor-wise, but it’s a solid submission.  Good job, Ben & Jerry’s.

Remarks? Hit me in the comments below or hit me on Twitter @junkfoodguy or on my Facebook Page.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy