Buzz Fleischman - Columnist Page. Forget what your mother told you about playing with your food. If they're Marshmallow Peeps, play all you want. After about 59 years, Peeps, the Easter basket staple, have become an American icon, a part of the 'peepular culture' and a treat for all.

Gifting Marshmallow Peeps to children at Easter time is much better than purchasing a pet rabbit. You have to feed the rabbit; the Peeps feed you. Peeps are an educational tool too! Make a counting game out of them and eat the ones that get crushed.

Make your own make believe town with graham cracker houses, icing for the roof and gum drops for the street humps. Proclaim yourself Mayor and levy a tax on the resident Peeps. If they can't pay, just eat them. Yes, fun for the entire family.

Adults love them too. Made of almost 90% sugar they could be a better mid-afternoon 'lift' than a cup of mocha espresso and you could keep some in your pocket for when you come down.

They are such a part of the very fabric of our civilization that Just Born, the company that also makes Mike and Ike, Peanut Chews and Hot Tamales, makes them all year long, not just on Easter, Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day. Sugared sugar; what a treat! Call the Surgeon General!

For the healthy eater, there are mousse flavored marshmallow chicks dipped in dark chocolate which is said to be heart-healthy for its inflammation-fighting properties thus reducing cardiovascular risk. Of course that's just the latest clinical study and who knows who funded it.

Let's ask them to expand the product line and produce 'Peeperoni pizza' and their very own soft drink, 'Peepsi'.

They've got the raw material to do it, so simply mold that marshmallow into other edible animals. We're a dog and cat loving nation. Call them 'Peets' and produce dogs and cats. Who wouldn't want to rescue a chocolate dipped marshmallow 'pet?'

This one's a no brainer; what about Peeples?' Manufacture small chocolate and marshmallow persons of every race and country. Give a United Nations of 'Peeple' in a gift box.

For an over the top Christmas gift, let's have igloo type homes of marshmallow reinforced with rebar made of chocolate straws. You can move into the 'home sweet home' and eat your way to Spring-time.

All we are saying is 'Give peeps a chance'.

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