Torn Again.

So, there is this snack food. It's good, healthy, raw, gluten-free, non-GMO... all kinds of good stuff. Just freeze-dried fruit. A really good snack food all around when you need/want it. Better than chips, or anything fried or overly-processed or filled with soy product. So why am I torn?

Crunchies, Nature's Ultimate Snack Food, are made in the USA and are by all accounts very good for you. Great on the go. Good for kids, good to mix into almost anything, up to 9 servings of your daily fruits and veggies. So what's my beef with them? (little pun there)

Well, let's move past the packaging, which of course rankles. That should be obvious to anyone who has been here before! No, instead, it is a little factoid my husband pointed out on the package: "Did you know: It takes 8-10 lbs of fresh fruit or vegetables to make 1 lb of Crunchies?" This is a selling point, apparently, because it is right on the package.

.......umm.....

Do you hear the crickets? It's what I hear.

Does that seem... confusing? Can't more people be fed with the 8-10 pounds? I'm confused. Someone please explain this to me. OK, yeah, the method of freeze-drying makes this snack available to more people than that 8-10 pounds of fruit or vegetables. The nutrition is still there. You can still eat these off-season, or they can get to a place that fresh fruit can't reach. OK. That must be valid. I still can't wrap my head around it. Maybe since you find these mostly in the stores I don't like as much, and that a package can cost, say, $5, that you can forgive my doubting that this is an entirely great thing. It's not like these are going to be shipped to poverty-stricken areas or starving kids. These are simply a "convenient" (says so right on the package, you know how I feel about THAT word), froofy, over-priced hip thing. Sure, you can get your kids to eat their fruit this way. Sure, you can be all cool with your bag of oh-so-cool edamame and rice. You're so cool. You have stuff from Whole Foods. You must have disposable income and be someone I want to hang with. That's what these packages say. Mmm hmmm.

So, yeah. I'm not sold. I had the sample pack, I tried them, they didn't suck, but I know I don't need them in my life. Save yer packaging an' yer over-priced hip snack food. I'll eat and actual pear. And if it is not in season, I won't eat it. And if I have my own pears, I'll can or dehydrate them myself and enjoy them another time.

Something Vegan This Way Comes

And I liked it.

I know. Don't go into shock.

This past weekend was World Fest LA, a vegan gathering that was open to us omnivores, as well. I did not sample much of the food. And actually, I'll be writing more about vegan food in another post. This post is for praise. I got a goodie bag, and in it were these tiny little samples of some energy bars. I usually find vegan, gluten-free stuff extremely mealy, bland, weirdly textured, etc. So I did no open the Bearded Brothers Colossal Coconut Mango Energy Bar sample with very much enthusiasm. But you know what? For once, I was pleasantly surprised! This tasted very good!

I'm not all anti-everything-vegan, I'm really not. (Just seems that way most times.) But I don't expect much in the way of taste when I look at packaged so-called vegan anything. These raw bars have good texture and taste wonderful and really do make me want to try more. "100% organic snack food company. Handmade with love and joy, in Austin, Texas." Austin is actually intriguing me lately. I hear it's great. These guys are intriguing me. I think I'll hit them up. Sure, they are a little pricey for what I think, but then again, I don't know much about vegan food products. They could be very reasonable. And I'm... frugal. (almost said cheap. which could be true.) But, yes, I am intrigued. Downright yummy. I applaud them. I was ready to go off on the packaging, but I think I will save that for the vegan-food rant I have cooking in my head. (cooking - with bacon grease heh heh heh.) I'm just going to simply like these guys for awhile.

Here's their site: http://www.beardedbros.com/ It's not what you'd call high on information, but it's simple and straightforward, perhaps, as I suspect, they themselves are. Um, straightforward; I don't want to call them "simple." Hah. Yikes, almost got in trouble on that one.

So, there it is. Take it for what it's worth. I won't be this nice in the next one, you can say that twice and mean it.