Peerless are produced in a Gary factory probably no larger than my apartment building. They have one machine making in excess of 375 pounds of finished product per hour (compared with Jays in Chicago, which does 35,000 pounds), and they are the best damn potato chips in the world: Salty, but not too salty, and rarely, if ever, burned because the guy uses specific potatoes that don't oxidize all crappy with the oil. Not only that, but they're healthy, at least as far as potato chips go; having one machine means they constantly use their oil, which means the taters aren't getting cooked in sugar-laden sludge. Best. chips. ever.

But Peerless, in business for 78 years, is dying.

See, Corporate America can buy shelf space on which to put its wares without ever giving thought to the little guy, which yeah, if you have the money, why not? It's business, happens all the time. Except I spent, like, an hour talking to the owner. He's a Vietnam Vet, inherited the business from his mom, likely grew up knowing he'd inherit the gig. And if you saw the sadness in the guy's eyes when he talked about how he had to take out a second mortgage on the building (which had to have been paid off, like, decades ago) ... sure, he played it off like it's business, but just the sheer defeat in his face would've broken your heart, too.

Now, I know a lot of people reading this aren't from NWI, so you may not know the goodness that is Peerless. But if y'all just contacted the guy and purchased a bag or two ... it may not be much, but it might get the ball rolling. They can be found at 1661 W. 11th Ave., Gary IN 46404, (219) 885-6843. Go on! Screw the diet for a weekend and help a brother out.
Oh, whatEVER.