Dave’s New Product Recommendations

Sheri Lynn and…um…Ginseng Root…

Sheri Lynn and Mamma Chia

Sheri and I recently attended the Natural Food Expo, a natural food trade show of massive proportions held in Anaheim CA. The EXPO always has a few gems for us to discover – and always leaves us exhausted, a little bit sick, and massively overstimulated.

WHY DO WE GO?

In short the EXPO is one stop shopping for all things new and natural in the health food industry. Showcased are new trends, trends desperately trying to liftoff, as well as massive corporate influence affecting the marketplace. In fact the EXPO has some very BIG sponsors…

Large food companies have been feeling the *sting* of organic and natural competitors so what did they do? They bought them!!! This way they are set up for a massive win-win scenario; either consumers buy their chemical laden crap food…or they buy their less-laden counterparts, all from the same parent company.

For instance, Annie’s Homegrown (think organic mac & cheese & salad dressings) was recently bought by General Mills. We did NOT see any General Mills logos…but Annie’s was represented wildly.

DAVE’s TOP THREE PROMISING PRODUCTS:

Camel milk:

Delicious, clean, and slightly sweet tasting – a wonderful surprise. Apparently there are many small herds of camels in the American NW and Desert Farms is a camel milk collective that sells it. Check them out here :http://desertfarms.com

Maple water:

This is a trend attempting to emerge…there have been a few ‘false starts’ and companies bottling maple water with preservatives, but new pressure pasteurization technologies have enabled this product to go to the next step. The health claims are being debated right now, and remember that if market dollars are going to be diverted to a new place, a fight will ensue. I find it refreshing, uplifting, and way better than any coconut water out there.

http://www.drinkmaple.com

Coconut Flakes:

This is a treat. Not a food to rely on for your daily breakfast – but the best ‘corn flake’ alternative I could imagine. THREE INGREDIENTS?!?: coconut meat, coconut water, palm starch. The company that makes the flakes is a Paleo market pioneer – they offer CLEAN protein powders, bars, wraps, and more. Check out their site: http://www.julianbakery.com

“Crickets are the new kale”

DAVE’s LONGER LIST AND WARNINGS:

BARS BARS BARS

Bars everywhere. GMO free, cricket flour (yes this is ground crickets!), nuts, fruits, you name it and there is a bar made from it. There are new PALEO friendly bars that rely heavily on egg protein – very dense and good nutritional profiles, but lacking somewhat in digestibility for this reviewer. Otherwise all the bars that I saw leaned on the sweets to sell the bar – thus rendering any protein benefit secondary. For Paleo bars (more protein) check out RX bar, Julian bakery, and EPIC bars. Bearded Brothers makes a good bar too – but vegan and lower protein.

JERKY

This was a major quest – to find a completely clean jerky from grass fed cattle. Easier said then done – but progress was made! There were several NOT NATURAL jerkies – one even had MSG in the ingredients but included a piece of dental floss in the package! Really. Might make you sick…but your gums will be OK. Check out Nick’s Sticks, Kodee Snacks, and Sustainapak for great jerkies that meat my criteria.

GMO WHACK A MOLE

This year the new NAUGHTY ingredient is anything GMO. Former naughty winners have been fat, animal products, dairy, carbs, soy, sugar, etc, etc….now almost anything is being called ‘natural’ if it is GMO free. I do not want anything GMO in my house but that does not mean their absence indicates a clean product! Sheri and I just saw sugared candy ‘fruit’ slices advertised as ‘GMO FREE!’ Never mind the dextrose, sugar, food coloring, citric and ascorbic acid – there are no GMOs to bother you here.

FURTHER – the MOST disturbing food trend I have witnessed is this:

MAJOR Big Agra and Big ‘Food’ companies rallied together to block the GMO labelling legislation in California last year. They won. Now some of these same companies and their subsidiaries are promoting more GMO free food! Take Cargill – they make Truvia (a stevia based sweetener) and proudly claim on their website that Truvia is GMO free…but wait?!? Cargill states this on their own website: On a global basis, we source both GM and conventional foods and feeds to serve the needs of our customers around the world.

THE TAKE HOME LESSON:

The same companies that are blocking YOUR RIGHT to know what is in your foods are working hard to corner the market, that is to control both the GMO and non-GMO avenues of distribution and marketing. If they are successful in overcoming the opposition they will control most food production in the world. They will decide what ingredients are OK, which farming practices are acceptable, and the price for all and everything. This can be very scary to a consumer learning how to make good shopping choices…but there is a solution. Know your food. Make your food. Ask questions and if it has a bar code…you can research it. 

Scaring the crap out of health food shoppers for over 6 years,

Dave