I Used to Think the Reverend Was Wrong About the Canned Goods. I No Longer Think That. — Submitted by T.W., Rural Iowa

T.W. asked that we specify Iowa, because, in T.W.’s words, “the people there need to know.”

I found the Cult of America newsletter through a search I no longer remember conducting. This is, I have since come to believe, not a coincidence. For three years, I subscribed but did not fully commit. I thought, privately, that the position on canned goods was extreme. We are a canned goods family and I saw no reason to change.

Then last spring I purchased a can of soup from a brand I had been buying for fifteen years. I opened it. The color was different. Subtly different, in the way that things are different when they have been changed but the people responsible do not want you to notice. The ingredients list had changed. One ingredient near the bottom that I did not recognize, positioned between two ingredients I recognized, as though the unfamiliar thing was being chaperoned by familiars. I wrote to the company. They responded promptly, which I found suspicious. The response said the formula had been “updated for quality.” I asked what specifically had changed. They stopped responding.

I emailed the Reverend. He responded in eleven days. His response was three words: “I know. Welcome.” I have not purchased a canned good since. I sleep better than I did. I believe this is related.

If you are reading this and you still have canned goods: look at the label. Compare it to a label from three years ago if you have one. If you don’t have one, that is also information. — T.W., Rural Iowa