A Boy Named Sue

One of my favorite Johnny Cash songs is "A Boy Named Sue." In the song the dad names his son Sue with the idea that everyone will mock him and he will learn how to fight and be tough.

What is in a name? As I thought about what to name my children I took it very serious. I sincerely believe that a name has the potential to make or break you. I know there are a lot of factors besides a name, and you can overcome a bad name, but why make your child overcome a bad one. Give your kids a good one to begin with.

Just like the boy named Sue, the Corn Refiners Association has realized that the name of one of their "children" has a bad connotation. Thanks to books like "The Omnivore's Dilemna" and movies like FOOD INC and King Corn many people have started to understand the negative connotations of all of the corn syrup and other sweeteners that we are eating. The Corn Refiner's Association has petitioned the FDA to let them change the name of Corn Syrup to Corn Sugar. I suppose they think that by doing this the health benefits of corn syrup will increase and everyone will be willing to eat the ingredient that is found in everything from "healthy" juice, to tomato sauce, to yogurt, to "nutrition bars." They claim the reason they want to change the name is to "eliminate consumer confusion." I doubt that this is their goal, to help us. They want to get rid of the negative view of their product.

Good luck on your campaign Corn Refiners Association. I have a feeling that not all consumers are as dumb as you think. If we look at a label of canned fruit and see added sugars of any kind and a lot of ingredients we can't pronounce, we will probably just go buy some real fruit at the farmer's market or pick it out of a tree.