Frozen Yogurt is better – Nina Rao

As the weather winds down from a beautiful, but hot summer to a cool and misty fall, my “Food Fights” co-writer and I sat down and reminisced about the delicious summer treats we had, though Emma’s were universally worse (as usual). Like normal, we got into an argument about which summer treat is better and I’m here to tell you that it’s frozen yogurt 100%. 

Starting with a general palette, frozen yogurt always has a delightful array of flavors for you to choose from. Not to mention, the self-serve function of frozen yogurt stores makes it so you can completely customize your cup. In contrast, the plain uniformity of ice cream leads people to get bored of their dessert midway through and end up giving it to someone else, or worse, throwing it out. I mean, for a dessert that’s supposed to be cooling, ice cream’s plastics sure are warming the earth. 

 Not to mention, the aesthetic appeal of frozen yogurt completely wins over ice cream. Frozen yogurt is this wonderful, colorful array of everything you could ever want. It’s beautiful, it’s gorgeous, and it takes you back to that time in your childhood when the world simply seemed brighter. Ice cream, on the other hand, is the equivalent of a retirement home. Boring, mediocre, and with about as much fun as a white person’s grilled chicken. Don’t retire yourself and your creativity, don’t give in to societal expectations of uniformity, and don’t be part of the ford-assembly line type of life that ice cream gives you. Eat froyo. 

Furthermore, frozen yogurt is actually more healthy than ice cream. Healthline even says in a 2020 article that “because of the yogurt base, frozen yogurt is considered a healthier and lower fat dessert than ice cream.” Frozen yogurt will often give you more yogurt for less calories, less fat, and less sugar. Ice cream only gives you less of a will to live. This is just the cherry on top of all the reasons why frozen yogurt is better for summer and for you. Ice cream is nothing more than frozen cow juice and I think we all need to moo-ve on.

As high schoolers, we often compartmentalize our feelings and our opportunities. We shove ourselves into boxes to fit in, both socially and academically. Along the way, our sense of creativity and freedom gets lost. But, you can rejuvenate yourself and your childhood dreams with frozen yogurt. Express yourself in flavor combos and topping varieties. So, my dear readers, as the icon Dove Cameron once said, go get yourself some frozen yogurt, “because you only live once.”

Ice Cream is better – Emma Dram

What’s that one phrase? I scream, you scream, we all scream for… frozen yogurt?

As many high schoolers can relate to, I have a devastatingly sweet tooth. Coming home from trips to the grocery store with what feels like enough sugar to make Willy Wonka go into cardiac arrest is the closest I’ve ever felt to god. And for those who know me, it’s a trademark of my personality that there is simply one sweet treat to satisfy my craving: ice cream.

I’m here to say that ice cream is by far superior to any other cold and sugary treat out there, especially frozen yogurt. Dubbed “fro-yo” by those naive enough to support, this dish is not just subpar to the wonders of ice cream, it’s also aggressively average. There are tens, hundreds, thousands of reasons to proclaim in support of ice cream, but I only need convince you with one – variety.

To say ice cream has any less diverse of a flavor palette than frozen yogurt is simply inaccurate. You’ve got your classics – vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. Then you’ve got new age contemporaries – cookie dough, peanut butter cup, mint chocolate chip. If you look far enough (i.e. the nearest ice cream shop near you), you’ll even find crazy flavors like birthday cake, cotton candy, and strawberry cheesecake. Ice cream has range – I’d be satisfied with a cold bowl of plain vanilla just as easily as I’d be quenched by a heaping helping of rootin’ tootin’ tutti frutti. And even with all this variety, I have never once seen a flavor of ice cream that didn’t belong scooped on a cone with sprinkles on top. I’m afraid I can’t say the same for frozen yogurt. Too many fro-yo shops are trying to revolutionize their flavors, change up the current standings, out of fear of losing relevance. I’m sorry, but passion orange guava tart? Rocket pop sorbet? Plant based blueberry pancake? Come on, Yogurtland. Do better.

Despite what I’ve said for the past 400 words, I’m not here to disparage the good name of frozen yogurt. In the eagle loving, flag waving, freedom craving spirit America wants to have, everyone has the freedom to like and dislike what they so choose. But there comes a time where we must take a stand against gross accusations that attack the very things we hold dear. Let the record show I abhor the claims my fellow Food Fights co-writer Nina Rao makes against ice cream, and I urge the population to not give in to weekend trips to the frozen yogurt shop simply because society makes you think you must. I cannot in good conscience try to convince you, our dear readers, of anything otherwise.

Much like frozen yogurt, the thought leaves a bad taste in my mouth.