There are frozen yogurt shops everywhere. Every plaza, shopping center, and mall has one–literally within feet of each other. Recently, a friend asked me where he could find good ice cream in town. I told him, “heck if I know.” All I can find around here is frozen yogurt. It disgusts me. Hipsters across America are killing ice cream one ounce of fro-yo at a time.
It’s true.
I had my first frozen yogurt experience last year after moving to Charlotte. I fell right into the fro-yo trap. It’s healthy? Shut up! Let’s fill this pint-sized bowl to the top! Since it’s healthy it won’t hurt to try a little spoonful of each of the 37 varieties of toppings. Heath, sprinkles, Oreos, peanut butter sauce, cookie dough bites, butter finger, bits of cake, a hunk of brownie, and a swirl of hot fudge (if you’re lucky enough to find a fro-yo shop that carries it), and since we’re being healthy here, let’s throw on some blueberries and mochi (even though I have no clue what the heck mochi is, but it’s trendy so it must be good for me… right?!).
I fell hard. It wasn’t quite love, but it was definitely topping lust. I carried my overflowing bowl to a table outside and surveyed my masterpiece in the sunlight. I took my first bite–it was all toppings, and it was undeniably amazing. Then, I took a second bite, making sure to get a good yogurt-to-toppings ratio. I sat there, with a mouth full of god knows what, confused, wondering if I had, in fact, just paid money for the stuff. As it melted in my mouth, I sketched out a mental list of pros and cons. In the pro column, it was cold, just like ice cream. And….? Was that it? I felt empty. IT felt empty. There were so many ice crystals that I was certain the fro-yo was freezer burnt. It was just… wrong. Yogurt is smooth and creamy, so why wasn’t the frozen version? It didn’t take long for the eater’s remorse to kick in. I realized that all those toppings I’d piled on had substantially negated the whole “healthy” concept, and, worst of all, it wasn’t even good.
That evening, I put frozen yogurt on my HATE list (right after eggplant, olives, and Miracle Whip).
A few weeks back, my friends Jaci and Tim came to visit. We were skipping down the sidewalk giddy from laughter (due to some especially good wine at Wooden Vine), when Jaci said something along the lines of “oooh we should get fro-yo tonight!” I grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop, all the happiness draining from my face, and said, “I’m going to pretend this conversation never happened, Jaci.” She just stared at me, as if she expected my skin to turn green and my muscles to rip through my clothes hulk-style as I pounded my chest and howled painfully toward the sky.
I can be scary sometimes. Just ask Tim.
Some people make the fro-yo health argument, stating frozen yogurt is better because it’s low fat. This is true, but here’s the thing: frozen yogurt is not health food–it’s full of sugar (having more grams per serving than ice cream, without factoring in any toppings) and thus it is a treat, just like ice cream. It’s also important to note that the fat content in ice cream helps to slow down the body’s absorption of sugar. If I’m going to have a treat (and trust me I’m going to) I want it to be the real deal–one scoop of rich, creamy, decadent ice cream.
Come on people! We need to band together and save ice cream in America. Who’s with me?
*If you are lactose intolerant please disregard the rant above.
