I was running low on peanut butter so while at Walmart the other day I remembered to get some. A jar lasts a long time because I don’t use much unless I bake cookies.

Otherwise, it’s only the occasional dab on a piece of toast or a cracker. Since I don’t purchase it often, I usually get a large jar of Smucker’s All Natural Creamy. It’s made from peanuts. I suppose that only makes sense because it’s called peanut butter. Peanuts should be the only ingredient. You wouldn’t expect the friendly folks at the Smucker plant to add butter to the jar. That would be silly. Nobody wants butter added to their peanut butter because the peanuts make their own butter that’s why it’s called peanut butter instead of peanut spread which would mean there are no peanuts in it, only hydrogenated something or other.

I know this sounds crazy, but stick with me. I thought about buying a generic brand until I looked at the ingredients. When I picked up a jar of Great Value and read what was in with the peanuts I was disgusted. Since when does peanut butter need sugar, corn syrup, molasses and salt to make it palatable? I put Walmart’s version back on the shelf and moved on to Jif. It didn’t have as much sugar as Great Value’s, but it did have some so my next selections were Skippy, Peter Pan and a host of others.

I read the list of ingredients in every jar. Without fail, sugar or corn syrup was always second after peanuts. I grumbled to the lady next to me. She was about my age and remembered a time when we bought peanut butter and that’s what we got without all the extra stuff. I don’t like the oil that rises to the top of the jar due to the “natural separation” process because I don’t have the strength to wrestle it back into the peanuts. But as I couldn’t find anything void of sugar, I bought what I always buy. The jar of Smucker’s Creamy Natural. When I open it, I’ll pour the oil out and fry something in it. The last inch of product will be solid peanuts. I’ll put that out as a treat for the birds.

Gee, I miss the old days. Food was real then. We didn’t have to hunt through the supermarket aisles for “natural” food. Ice cream was made from cream. Watermelons had seeds. Peaches had taste. Grapes were toxic free. Tomatoes could be sliced with a paring knife instead of a hacksaw. Fish genes stayed in fish. When did our food supply get so complicated? It seems like we’ve gone topsy-turvy and everything that used to make sense doesn’t anymore.

But I digress. Back to peanut butter. If truth be told, I’ve about exhausted that subject except to say I’m glad the “natural” kind still comes in a glass jar instead of plastic of which I’m borderline phobic. I don’t know which is worse. Plastic surrounding our food or tin cans welded together with lead. I thought lead was considered lethal, but maybe that’s only in paint. As adults we’re not going to chip old paint from our walls and fry the chips in peanut oil.

All I wanted was a jar of peanut butter. Next time I buy something, I won’t even glance at the ingredients. I’ll take my chances and hope for the best.

— To contact Sharon Kennedy, send her an email atauthorsharonkennedy.com. Kennedy's new book, "View from the SideRoad: A Collection of Upper Peninsula Stories," is available from her or Amazon.