Space Food Sticks
 
When I was a boy, the most coveted snack food product I wanted was
the legendary Pillsbury Space Food Stick. 

The food stick was a flavored cylinder of some stuff that came in a
foil wrapper and was supposedly the same stuff the astronauts ate.
There are several accounts of the sticks floating on the net (one, two, three).

Back in the day, my mother was against sugar on one of those 70s health kicks,
where I ate wheat germ in my pancakes and was told that carob was just as
tasty as chocolate.  It was a rare treat that I got to eat a space food stick.  It usually
involved trading for, or buying the space food stick off another kid.

At some point the idea of finding some space food sticks 25 years later came
into my mind and I quickly found them available, in a sense.

If you go to SpaceFoodSticks.com you can find what they say are
basically the same as the Pillsbury version.  I bought a few boxes and
tested them out with the family.  They only come in a chocolate flavor.

Here is the box.  Fairly clearly labeled, except for the fact there is
a BMX racer picture instead of an astronaut.  I don't really understand it.
You would think that astronaut clip art would be easy to find.

The back has a little more description and the nutritional properties.
Still with the BMX racer on a bike. WTF?

A close-up for you that are very interested.
Compared to some of the energy/food bars on the market these days,
these can hardly compare.

Out of the box, the sticks are wrapped in plastic instead of the original
foil.  It's a subtle difference, but for a purist, it's a problem.

Here is the stick.  This is a major difference.
The original sticks were not paired.  Also, they were cylindrical, not square.
The color is dead on to what I remember.

The sticks are just over 3 inches long.
I can't remember how long the originals were.

Here I am, about to take a taste.

The basic flavor and consistency is what I remember.
The original sticks had several flavors and this is only chocolate,
 so it doesn't completely compare to my memories.

The Terra Firma Products people, makers of the space food sticks,
have done an admirable job of trying to bring back this treat from the 70s.

Zoe, age 8, tried the sticks and says they are "good but hard".
I've put them in her school lunch as a repeat of my childhood.
After a few days, she asked me not to put them in any more.
Maybe if they had cool foil wrappers.

Mira, age 5 1/2, tried them and said "I like them alot." and gave them the
big thumbs up.  As I write this, she is asking for more.

Michele refused to try the food sticks or give and opinion other than
the big thumbs down.  She says, "Why do you do these things?"

I have heard of caramel flavored space food sticks being available
but I have not been able to locate them.

A word of warning:  The space food sticks will dry out quickly if opened
 and become a stiff crackable sticks instead of chewy treats.

So if you got a hankering for some space food, you could do worse than
trying a few space food sticks.
 
Update (3/19): Here's a recent update from the makers of Space Food Sticks regarding the future.

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