by Kelly

I have a confession to make: sometimes I eat frozen dinners.

I know boxed and frozen food isn’t the best meal choice in the world, but sometimes I just can’t get it together to chop my own vegetables. And frankly, I know I’m not alone. The frozen food aisles aren’t stocked with options beyond options just for little ol’ me.

A few months back, in my ongoing quest to find a healthy frozen meal, I purchased a few boxes of Kashi brand dinners.

The brand promotes itself as a health-conscious alternative and since I’m a fan of Kashi cereal (I love Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal so much that I don’t allow myself to buy it anymore), I decided to give the frozen entrees a try.

Imagine my surprise when I got them home and noticed that not one, but all three, had a haiku printed on the box!

There on the side, next to the UPC code is a haiku that reads:

Seven whole grain meals

Awaken all my senses

Warm and delightful

The haiku is the same on every box whether I’m eating Pesto Pasta Primavera or Sweet & Sour Chicken (neither of which I like as much as the Honey Sunshine cereal). Included next to the haiku is an explanation as to why it is there:

“Haiku are expressions of complex ideas distilled into simple words. They serve as metaphors for the richly complex flavors crafted from Kashi’s honest ingredients.”

While that is nicely said and all, it doesn’t answer my questions, which are — Which Kashi employee came up with the idea to stick a haiku on the side of the box? And why?

Is there a lover of haiku lurking in the Kashi marketing department? Or in the packaging department perhaps?

Or maybe it’s the CEO of Kashi him (or her) self!

And how much convincing of the marketing/packaging/upper management staff did it take to make sure that the haiku ended up there?

And why isn’t the Kashi haiku printed on Kashi cereal boxes? Why do Kashi frozen dinners get haiku when Kashi granola bars don’t?

These are burning questions, people!

I wonder whether or not an email submitted to the Kashi “contact us” page outlining all of my haiku inquiries would be answered . . .