Eat a cookie, save a trail

I eat Nature Valley Granola Bars. I have no illusions about them. They are cookies. I like cookies. I also eat Famous Amos cookies. Sometimes I take Nature Valley products with me on a hike, usually as part of lunch. I suppose that it's convenient that they're already separately packaged. I also sometimes take Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chunk cookies. You have to put those in a plastic bag, though, unless you're planning on eating the whole package on trail (which might not be a bad idea).

But then I looked at the back of the box. This is not something I usually do, altho' I used to read breakfast cereal boxes at the table to see what plastic toy I was in danger of swallowing if I ate too recklessly. It seems that I am saving trails when I eat my granola bars. I don't have to write checks to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy or the Florida Trail Association, I can just stay at home and eat cookies. Oh, wait. It says here, "You can also help Save The Trails by volunteering at one of more than 1,200 local American Hiking Society Events." Uh-oh, it sounds like I need to volunteer for a work crew, too. Maybe I could buy an extra box of cookies instead?

Kudos (not the cookie) to General Mills for giving back a little. No credit to anyone who thinks that eating a cookie is enough to preserve and expand our trails.