Here are my 10 tips for making the most of your time at the Expo:

1. Take a look at the exhibitor list on their website

You don’t going exploring without a compass or a map. Similarly, it’s best to attend Expo West knowing what businesses will be there and where they’ll be located. Their website has a list of all of the exhibitors and a floor plan of where they’re located. Also on the Expo West website is a search engine containing many functions. The most basic one is searching by exhibitor name. Having gone many times, I have my favorites which I look for. These include Alexander Family Farm Cleveland Kitchen, Jackson’s Chips, Philosopher Foods, Pure Indian Foods, Sioux Honey, Jovial Foods, and Biora. A more advanced search option on the website allows you to search for key words with exhibitors. By using this tool, I’m able to learn about companies I might not have thought of or even known about. Some of the key words I type in are “grass fed”, “paleo”, “broth, “ferment”, “sauerkraut”, and “kombucha”.

2. Take a look at the NEXTY Awards finalists and winners

Expo West is where the natural food companies introduce new products to their line. To highlight some of the new products, the New Hope Network which puts on the show, holds awards for what they see as the best. You can see who the finalists are on the website and then search for where the companies’ booths are located.

3. Use the app

The Natural Products Expo  has an app which can be downloaded on your smart phone or tablet. Along with the website, the app also allows you to search for exhibitors, which can be added to your favorites on there. Other perks of the app are a map of all the exhibit halls and being able to pull up your badge registration on it. As Expo West is about sustainability, what’s better than being able to save on paper and not having to print out your registration confirmation?

4. If you need help with anything at the Expo, use SPARKY the EventBot

The app is one way to find get information on Expo West. Another option is using SPARKY the EventBot. You can access SPARKY at this link. The EventBot can answer all types of questions regarding the exhibitors, the schedule of the entire week, and even directions on how to get to the Anaheim Convention Center.

5. Don’t skip the exhibitors off the main floor

While the most well known names in organics will be found by and large on the main floor, the exhibitors on other floors in the Anaheim Convention Center as well as in the nearby hotels are also worth checking out. The other floors are great for discovering new products and being the first to know what they’re all about.

6. Attend the day before the main floor opens

The main floor opens on Thursday, but the North Hall of the Convention Center and the Anaheim Hilton are filled with over 1,000 exhibitors known as the Hot Products. I’ve spend over a day visiting these businesses alone. Attending a day early makes it easier to be able to see both the newer smaller companies and the major organic and natural food brands.

7. Get to know the other people talking to the exhibitors

If you’re an attendee as opposed to an exhibitor, you’re obviously there to check out the booths. But the other people attending can also be a major resource into the natural foods network too. I’m always excited meet other bloggers and social media influencers to learn some new tricks of the trade. Additionally, some business don’t feel ready to exhibit yet, but like to walk the floor to get connections. So people behind the exhibitor tables aren’t the only way to learn about exciting new products out there.

8. It’s an exhibitor heavy conference, but hearing the speakers can be beneficial too

With products and expo in its title, it should be clear it’s more about exhibitors than speakers. And even spending every day and minute of the conference on the floor, it’s likely impossible to see every exhibitor there. Still there are many great panels there with valuable knowledge of the sustainable and natural worlds. So if any of the topics pique your interest, it’s worth taking a break from the floor. While some sessions require separate registration, many such as the keynotes every days are included in the general badge registration.

9. Go for seconds with your favorites

I like to hit as many exhibitors as possible, but I also want to make return visits to my favorites to learn more about them and maintain connections. Let the companies know you appreciate them by popping your head in again.

10. There are benefits of attending the last day

Many people I know tend to skip the last day, feeling they’ve covered enough in the other days. This is the day I tend to spend going for seconds with my favorites. It’s also the best day to get samples from the exhibitors as a lot of them don’t plan to take everything back with them. And you never know what you might have missed the other days. It never hurts to take one last walk around all the halls.

I love the wealth of connections I make at the Expo West every year and the great people I get to meet. If you’re attending this year, be sure to look for me.

I continue with more Super Bowl party coverage and more potato chip options. I previously discussed the new popularity of beef tallow chips. There are many other seed oil free options with use of such oils as avocado, coconut, palm, and olive. Potato chips fried in these oils are great options for parties with vegetarians/vegans attending. 

In alphabetical order, here are the 14 best seed oil free chips: 

Boulder Canyon

In 1994, brothers John and Mark Maggio founded Boulder Canyon to create snacks which were both healthy and delicious. The two learned how to make potato chips and soon started frying them in better oils, such as avocado oil. Boulder Canyon’s potato chips come in both ridged and thin textures and in the flavors of sea salt, malt vinegar and sea salt, cheddar sour cream, jalapeño, and limited edition offerings.

Enso

The world’s longest living culture is Okinawa Japan. And the Okinowan sweet potato is a food that the population has relied on for generations. At one point, more than half of their daily calories consisted of sweet potatoes. Enso Chips is inspired by the Okinawan culture and fries Okinawan sweet potatoes in avocado oil. Their sweet chip potato chips come in sea salt, rosemary & garlic, and sweet chili. 

FC Snacks

FC Snacks was formed in 2007 as a family owned importer and distributor of natural snacks. They support local farmers, many of whom are direct descendants of families who first settled in the lands. Some of them even came before the Spanish conquest. FC Snacks is also involved in an initiative to engage local manufacturers in bringing back endemic plants and trees to help restore the diversity of native species. There are three labels for FC Snacks: Andean Gourmet, Samai, and Shegraa. All of the brands use palm olein. Their Andean Gourmet label has a sweet potato option. 

Good Health

Good Health prides themselves on innovative ingredients and great tasting tasting flavors. Their slogan is “Enjoy Being Good”. Good Health makes a number of avocado and olive oil potato chip flavors from sea salt to lime ranch to barbecue.

Hardbite

Originating in British Columbia, the folks at Hardbite were determined to handcraft an all natural chip which tasted as good as the big brands but didn’t have any artificial flavors or preservatives. They experimented with cooking them until they got the perfect crunch, taste, and flavor. Along with using all natural ingredients, they were advocates of non-GMO before the movement was well known. Hardbite also buys the highest quality potatoes from like-minded farmers. As the company has grown, its product line has grown too. More recently, Hardbite introduced its potato chips cooked in avocado oil, coming in the flavors of apple cider vinegar, black truffle sea salt, spicy honey dijon, and sweet ghost pepper. 

Jackson’s Chips

The story of Jackson’s Chips starts with the Megan and Scott Reamers’ son Jackson getting diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder. After trying various methods to improve his health and quality of life, they found that a high fat low carb diet worked the best. The entire family began living a HFLC lifestyle, but they missed eating snack foods. So they attempted cooking locally sourced and thinly sliced sweet potatoes over their stovetop. They loved how the sweet potato chips tasted. Their son Jackson’s legacy lives on through the chips he inspired and the company. Jackson’s Chips has regular potato chips in sea salt variety and sweet potato chips fried in avocado oil in the flavors of sea salt, spicy jalapeño, habanero nacho, and cheddar & sour cream. 

Kettle Brand

Cameron Healy founded Kettle Brand in 1978 with the vision of going the extra mile to make great tasting real foods available to everybody. At the beginning, Cameron was selling the food out of the back of his van. 40 years later, Kettle Brand continues with its effort to be bold with practices such as using whole potatoes cut extra thick. Recently, they also began offering avocado oil potato chips in the varieties of sea salt pink peppercorn, apple cider vinegar, and special sauce. 

Keya’s

Founder Keya Wingfield moved to the U.S. from Mumbai, India and learned everything she knew about cooking from enrolling in a culinary school. After graduating, she became a pastry chef and started a desserts company. She then competed and won the Food Network TV series Baking Championship. When the pandemic hit, Keya shifted to Indian American to-go meals. With each meal, she included a bag of Bombay chips. While the chips were originally for her caucasian husband, everybody began ordering just the chips within a week. Then the chips were spread by word of mouth and retailers approached her. Keya’s flavors are black salt and Bombay spice. 

Kiwa

Kiwa founder Martin Acosta had a calling to change the world. At the beginning, he had just five employees and basic plantain chip machinery, but he also had a room filled with dreams. It took the company a year and a half to figure out what exactly they were going to do, to put the basics of the business into practice, and to get selling. In 2009, Kiwa introduced their first product, the vegetable chips mix. Presently, Kiwa is a global leader with their vegetable chips sold in over 30 countries. They take part in the Direct Trade program. This program connects farmers to manufacturers, building long term trusting relationships between the two sides, guaranteeing better working conditions, technical support, and a higher pay for the farmers. Kiwa has also shifted from its traditional farming practices to regenerative agriculture. They work directly with farmers in eight of Ecuador’s 24 provinces and northern regions of Peru. Kiwa’s offerings are all cooked in palm and have a Native Andean potato chip choice. 

Jans

Since 1998, Jans Enterprises‘ mission has been to improve people’s quality of life by providing them with better food products. Their product line consists of everything from beverages to dairy products to desserts to chips. Among Jans’ chips are organic yellow and purple sweet potato chips fried in coconut oil. 

Nantucket Crisps

The inspiration for Nantucket Crisps comes from growing up on Nantucket’s beaches with memories of sun, surf, and, most importantly, chips. Nantucket Crisp’s chips are cooked in small batches with properly sourced seasonings. Since the end of last year, they’ve been cooking a portion of their chips in avocado oil and their chips have been sold at 350+ Sprouts Farmers Markets as part of their Innovation Program. If enough people buy their avocado oil varieties, Nantucket Crisps will switch all of their products to avocado oil nationwide. Their flavors all include New England themed names. Flavors for their avocado oil chips include Sconset sea salt, Cisco Beach BBQ, Polpis Pickle, and Hummock hot honey. 

Roots Potato Chips

Roots Potato Chips‘ mission statement is to source the best ingredients, healthier oils, and farm fresh potatoes while being transparent at every stage. Their Idaho grown potatoes use methods of regenerative agriculture, including cover crops, pollination, crop rotation, soil health, composting, and animal integration. They’re certified regenerative by the Soil & Climate Initiative. Roots reduces its food waste by using the entire potatoes, skin and all. They’re also certified plastic neutral by rePurpose as they support global waste recovery projects to fund the recovery of the same amount of plastic waste as their footprint while supporting waste workers. They include a QR code to learn about the farmer where the potatoes came from in that specific bag. Roots began with avocado oil potato chips and more recently added 100% grass fed beef tallow chips to their line. Their avocado oil chips come in sea salt, sea salt & vinegar, barbecue, and jalapeño, and red and purple potato options in sea salt. 

Siete

Siete‘s formation can be traced to founder Veronica Garza’s family of seven (or siete in Spanish) helping her overcome numerous health challenges. As a teen, Veronica was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune conditions which made her fatigued, overweight, and depressed. So her family began exercising and joined her in following a low-inflammation, grain free diet. Being a Mexican American family in South Texas, using lettuce in place of the flour and corn tortillas for tacos and fajitas wasn’t cutting it. Veronica began making grain free tortillas. When her Grandmother Campos told her that the grain free tortillas tasted better than the flour tortillas her grandmother had been making for decades, Veronica knew she had a winning product she could sell on the market. The first products were tortillas and tortilla chips made from cassava flour and fried in avocado oil. Siete has since delved into avocado oil potato chips  available in the flavors of sea salt, fuego, queso, sea salt & vinegar, chipotle BBQ, chile lime, spicy dill pickle, habanero hot honey, and sour crema & onion. 

Torres

Founder Manuel Torres, who opened a potato chip stand with his wife Ángeles Medel in Premià de Mar, Spain in 1969. The Torres business soon grew and their children moved the production of the chips to Premià de Dalt while still operating the stand. In 1995, in order to cater to increasing demands, they relocated to their current facilities in Dosrius. In 2012, the Torres introduced their 100% extra virgin olive oil potato chips. More recently Torres launched avocado oil chips in the choices of sea salt and lime and black pepper. 

Another Super Bowl is coming up. And while the Super Bowl is about football, it’s also about the musicians performing at the Halftime Show, and the great commercials… and of course, all of the great food served at Super Bowl parties. Over 100 million people will be throwing parties to watch the big game. At these parties, hosts will be serving smorgasbords of everybody’s favorite treats.

I throw a Super Bowl party every year. I love doing so, because it combines two of my favorite things: football and food. For me, it’s a great way to demonstrate how sustainable food can be fun. For the past few years, I’ve been releasing articles around the Super Bowl about my favorite snack foods. What originally began as one article has expanded into a series covering different types of snack foods in each one. As the options for better snack foods grow, I’m able to separate subcategories into their own articles.

I kick off the series of Super Bowl snack foods with potato chips. Chips, in general, are the most popular foods of all found at parties for the big game. The salty snack industry rakes in $278 million on potato chips for Super Bowl Sunday. But the next day, many Americans pay the price for the Standard American Diet. Antacid sales go up 20%. And 1.5 million people call in sick to work.

Potato chips weren’t always a highly processed food. For a long time, potato chips remained artisan and local, because they couldn’t keep fresh for too long. The chips were typically placed in a paper bag sealed with a paper clip. They would go stale in day. All of this changed thanks to one person.

During the Great Depression, Americans were trying to find cheap calories for the families to consume. Candy had seen a big boom, but the salty snack industry was barely on the radar. Only small local producers were offering snacks such as pretzels and popcorn. One company in Tennessee called the Barrett Snack Food Company and known for crackers and pretzels was struggling to keep its lights on. Then entered an employee named Herman Lay.

Herman Lay was a salesman and businessman who had trouble in the past year finding consistent work. An idea came to his head when the Dust Bowl was taking place. Farmers were struggling to grow their usual crops as they their top levels of soil were blowing away. Now potatoes and corn had become commodities. Potato prices decreased significantly and Herman discovered the then unknown snack of potato chips.

When the founder of the Barrett Snack Food Company passed away, Herman Lay offered to buy the company. He took out to a loan which was 12 times what his life savings were. Herman’s next challenge was to find a way to keep the potato chips fresh.

Herman Lay discovered a paper known as glassine, a smooth translucent paper which is resistant to moisture, dust and grass. Glassine had been used to preserve stamps and photographs. Herman worked with an engineer who designed a sealable bag.

During World War II, Herman Lay experienced trouble as the government was seizing all materials for military use and shutting down nonessential businesses, such as his. Herman was successfully able to lobby Congress to recognize potato chips as an essential food. He said they’re both non-perishable and readily available to eat should there be a blackout where you can’t cook. As sugar was rationed during WWII, candy prices went up. Salty snack now were making headway into the profits of the candy industry.

Herman Lay was first selling his products only in the east, but eventually worked his way to get his potato chips available in the west. To expand sales, he introduced seasoned chips in the 1950s, starting with barbecue and adding on other flavors as time went on. As plastic bags became more common with packaging, they replaced the glassine bags.

With the many changes we’ve seen with potato chips from being artisan to mass produced and from paper to glassine to plastic, we’ve also seen them going from using real ingredients to denatured ingredients. One of the worst changes to potato chips was the use of seed oils such as canola, corn, and soybean oil. Another problem was non-organic ingredients sprayed with multiple pesticides.

When I started this blog in 2011, I knew of one seed oil free potato chip brand. Over the years, there’s been a huge growth in chips using clean ingredients again, including healthy oils such as avocado, olive, coconut, and palm oil. Now tallow is having moment. While some may see this related to politics, movements such as the Weston A. Price Foundation and the paleo community have been advocating for tallow long before. These groups consist of people from all over the political spectrum. So I recommend tallow from the point of view of an ancestral health advocate and nothing more.

In addition to cooking in tallow, the potato chips brands I recommend are also free of iodized salt,  additives, and fillers. Many of these brands stick to the three basic ingredients of potatoes, tallow, and sea salt. Serve any of these chips below at your Super Bowl party this year and you’ll score a touchdown.

In alphabetical order, here are the 10 best beef tallow potato chips:

Beefy’s Own

The origin of Beefy’s Own begins in 2020 when the founder’s family decided improve their health and commit to a holistic animal based diet. This meant cutting out seeds oils, which would unfortunately also meant no potato chips. So they decided to make their own, using tallow. They then shared the chips online and realized there was large demand for tallow fried potato chips. In 2022, Beefy’s Own made the chips in small batch. When 2023 came around, they found a dedicated production facility in order to sell their products nationwide. The flavors of Beefy’s Own are sea salt, salt n’ vinegar, salt n’ pepper, sour cream & onion, and BBQ.

Fat of the Land

Fat of the Land was founded by parents who knew all about the temptation of potato chips as they’re quick and convenient. The founders’ problem was most of them contained seed oils. Knowing about the health issues from the oils, they never gave their children snacks with them. So they created a snack they could feel good about. Their idea was snacks cooked in animal fats consumed for thousands of years. In addition to animal fats, Fat of the Land  prioritizes sustainable and ethical sourcing. They value being good for the earth as much as being good for people’s health. Fat of the Land’s potato chips come in sea salt and BBQ.

Norse Roots

Inspired by Norse and Viking Cultures, the founders of Norse Roots believed that snacks should both  taste great and nourish. After discovering the unique properties of beef tallow and its significant role in ancient diets, the founders started cooking beef tallow potato chips. Their tallow comes from suppliers who share their commitment to sustainable and ethical practices. Norse Roots has a wide option of flavors all with clever names. These flavors are original (sea salt), Valhalla feast (rosemary steak flavor), smoky mischief (honey barbecue), sea storm & pepper (salt & pepper), viking funeral (cheddar & sour cream), and berzerker (spicy all-seasoned).

Rancher’s Chips

The roots for Rancher’s Chips involve a group friends on a camping trip in Bobcaygeon, Ontario. As they were sitting around a campfire, they discussed their love of potato chips and their frustration over all of the bad ingredients the chips had become loaded with. They questioned if these ingredients were necessary. After searching for seed oil free chips with minimal ingredients, they found very few offerings. And the ones they did see were too expensive for daily needs. So they fried potatoes into chips themselves, doing it the way chips used to be cooked. They stuck to three ingredients: quality potatoes, beef tallow, and salt. To make their dream become a reality, Rancher’s partnered with an established, family-owned potato chip company in Ohio.

Roots Potato Chips

Roots Potato Chips‘ mission statement is to source the best ingredients, healthier oils, and farm fresh potatoes while being transparent at every stage. Their Idaho grown potatoes use methods of regenerative agriculture, including cover crops, pollination, crop rotation, soil health, composting, and animal integration. They’re certified regenerative by the Soil & Climate Initiative. Roots reduces its food waste by using the entire potatoes, skin and all. They’re also certified plastic neutral by rePurpose as they support global waste recovery projects to fund the recovery of the same amount of plastic waste as their footprint while supporting waste workers. They include a QR code to learn about the farmer where the potatoes came from in that specific bag. Roots began with avocado oil potato chips and more recently added 100% grass fed beef tallow chips to their line. Their tallow chips come in sea salt with the choice of regular or purple potatoes.

Rosie’s Chips

Being originally from Central Pennsylvania, the potato chip capital of the world, Rosie’s Chips began with a vision of introducing to the world an all natural potato chip using the simple three ingredients of potatoes, grass fed & finished beef tallow, and microplastic free sea salt. The chips are kettle cooked in small batches. The name Rosie’s Chips comes from 102-year-old Central Pennsylvania icon Rose Adams, who raised the founders’ family and was known for her delicious comfort foods and snacks.

Stella & Milos

The name Stella & Milo’s refers to the founder’s dogs. Whenever they would open a bag of chips, their dog Stella wandered over in hopes that they’d share the chips. As they learned about the chips’ additives  and how the chips were processed, the founders knew it was time to concoct something better. So the founders set out to make potato chips the way they used to be done. This meant kettle cooked chips from the three simple ingredients of potatoes, grass fed beef tallow, and mineral-rich salt. Their current dog Milo now continues the tradition of being their most enthusiastic taste tester.

Tasty Nate’s

Nathan Childs had a bold vision to revolutionize the snack industry with seed oil free potato chips. So Nathan started Tasty Nate’s, which offered potato chips with the three basic ingredients of potatoes, beef tallow, and sea salt. His chips are not only seed oil free, but also avoid any fillers or hard to pronounce ingredients. Along with the original flavor, Tasty Nate’s also has game day BBQ and summer burger.

Tips

Tips came about as wherever its founders looked for snacks, they were cooked in seed oils. The founders were health conscious and wanted a chip they could trust. So they began frying ones themselves; using beef tallow instead of seed oil, sourcing real, quality ingredients, and cooking the potato chips kettle style. Tips can be found in the varieties of sea salt, salt & vinegar, and jalapeño.

Vandy

Unsatisfied with all of the chips on the market, Ancient Crunch founder Steven A. set out to create a chips with two simple requirements. First, the corn must be naturally grown and the tortillas must be naturally prepared. Second, the tortillas need to be free of any inflammatory seed oils. So he came up with MASA, the first tortilla chips made with both organic corn and grass fed tallow. After MASA, Steve followed up Vandy, potato chips cooked with out seed oils, pesticides, or other additives. He uses the three basic ingredients of potatoes grown naturally and free of CIPC, grass fed & finished tallow, and unrefined sea salt. Vandy comes in original, French onion, herbs de Provence, and smokehouse BBQ.

January 19 is National Popcorn Day. People in the United States consume 13 billion quarts of popcorn annually. This is more than any other country as the majority of popcorn is grown in the U.S. After potato and tortilla chips, popcorn is the next most popular salted treat.

The only variety of corn which can be turned into popcorn is known as Zea mays everta. This variety has small ears and its kernels bust when exposed to dry heat. The Zea mays everta variety has been shown to date back at least 5,600 years ago. Early uses of popcorn are found in Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, and other places in Central and South America. In the 16th century,  Aztecs wore headdresses with popcorn during ceremonies honoring Tlaloc, the god of maize and fertility.

In the mid-1800’s popcorn became popular in the United States. Candy store owner Charles Cretors helped its popularity grow by inventing a steam run machine for popping it. By 1900, Charles had horse drawn wagons serving popcorn throughout the streets of Chicago. Throughout the century, more people began to discover popcorn by the means of Cracker Jacks at baseball games, movie theatres, and microwaves.

I love popcorn; but for too long, popcorns were all cooked using seed oils such as canola or soybean. We’re now beginning to see popcorns using healthy oils, including as coconut, avocado, and olive oil as well as ghee. 

Another issue with bagged popcorn is the ingredients along with the popcorn, salt, and oil. This can be anything from artificial flavors, chemical preservatives, GMOs, and other unnatural additives. The brands I’m recommending all pride themselves on using real ingredients. 

In alphabetical order, here are the 14 best seed oil free popcorns:

Dr. Linda’s 

Dr. Linda Robins, M.D. went from being a fertility specialist to opening a homeopathy practice. Her transition into homeopathy occurred after she was unable to cure her chronic back pain ailment with traditional medicine. While being a homepath, Dr. Linda discovered how important food is in terms of health. So she started teaching her patients about the benefits of nutrient dense foods. Delving further, she learned about the key role which magnesium plays in our health and how the essential mineral is lacking in the current standard diet. In 2013, she decided it was time to integrate magnesium so it could found easier and created the Dr. Linda’s magnesium-rich product line. She began with offering nuts and seaweed sourced from sustainable and environmentally conscious farms. More recently, they added popcorn cooked in coconut oil and seasoned with seaweed and real salt. 

Foods You Know

Foods You Know sees that the best food is both great tasting and sourced with recognizable and beneficial ingredients. In terms of ingredients, their top priorities are organic, grass fed, and from sustainable farms. The popcorn, branded as Gheelish, replaces seed oils with high-quality ghee. The options for Gheelish popcorn are lightly buttered, sweet cinnamon, and salt & pepper.

Healthy Traditions

In 1998, Healthy Traditions founder Brian Shilhavy learned about the benefits of coconut oil when he moved to the Philippines with his Filipino wife and their three children. Unfortunately, at this time, coconut farmers couldn’t support their families due to the 80s and 90s negative U.S. campaigns against tropical oils. So Brian began making coconut oil himself and by the way of traditional methods from older generations. He put the coconut oil up for sale on the Internet and the demand for coconut oil skyrocketed. When Brian’s family was forced to leave the Philippines, they had to transition from buying fresh farms from their local community and shopping at a local public market to buying food on the shelves at stores with little to no information of who the food producers were. So Brian sought out well sourced food and healthy products. In 2002, he launched Tropical Traditions and then changed the name to Healthy Traditions in 2017.  Today, Healthy Traditions offers a huge assortment of healthy products using traditional methods and their products contain all types of healthy oils and fats. For popcorn, they have popcorn popped in their own coconut oil and in the flavors of Himalayan salt, cinnamon & sugar, hot and spicy, and the heirloom lady finger popcorn. 

Lesser Evil 

President and CEO Charles Coristine came to Lesser Evil as he thought it could be a great opportunity to have the company carry out his practices of mindfulness and healthy living, not to mention he loved the name. He saw the goal of Lesser Evil as creating organic, sustainably made delicious snacks that inspire mindful snacking. Examples of their sustainable practices are the energy efficient facility they own, composting their food waste, and packaging the products in NEO Plastics. Lesser Evil has seven different flavors of its popcorn, cooked in either coconut oil, ghee, avocado oil, or olive oil. They have other better snack choices ranging in everything from cassava flour puffs and curls to veggie sticks to paleo cookies.

Little Lad’s 

Restaurant owners Larry & Maria Fleming founded Little Lad’s Herbal Corn when they were trying to come up with an alternative side to the sandwiches at their Maine restaurant. Larry & Maria started making popcorn and seasoning it with herbs and spices. Their popcorn is cooked in either coconut or olive oil and free of chemical ingredients, artificial flavors such as MSG, hard to pronounce ingredients, harmful spices, and inedible preservatives. Little Lad’s comes in several flavors, including sea salt & olive oil and herbal corn. 

Living Intentions 

Joshua McHugh founded Living Intentions as he wanted to start a company providing innovative snacks  healthier than the alternative out there. Joshua focused on sourcing unique top quality ingredients and herbal extracts from other functional foods. In the beginning, he was sprouting foods in five gallon buckets day and night in his home kitchen with food dehydrators stacked up all over his house. Living Intentions is now based in Point Richmond, CA with a newly built processing facility designed specifically for sprouting. After becoming a pioneer in the raw and sprouted food movement with their nuts and seeds, Living Intentions has expanded into many other areas of snack food. In 2016, they introduced their activated popcorn line. Joshua launched this because he wanted to take popcorn to the next level. Many companies were popping it in coconut oil. Only a few companies used organic popcorn. He wanted to have popcorn which did both of these plus made it a functional snack with probiotics and superfood ingredients. Living Intentions’ popcorn can be found in varieties like Himalayan salt MCT, salsa verde, and tandoori turmeric. 

Pop Art Snacks

Pop Art Snacks founder Mike and Venessa Dobson both come from an art background. Their company is all about making snacks not just healthy but also fun. They add that they do for snack food what Andy Warhol did for Campbell’s soup cans. Pop Art’s products take the traditional popcorn snack and elevate it into a savory “taste of art”. Their products are all sourced with organic and natural ingredients. Pop Art’s popcorn comes in bold flavors, including cheddar jalapeño, Hawaiian sea salt, and dill pickle ranch. All of those flavors are with kernels cooked in avocado oil.

Pop Daddy Snacks

Mark and Erin Sarafa, the founders of Pop Daddy Snacks, had been eating microwave popcorn almost every evening before Mark decided to do some research. He learned about the chemicals found in microwave popcorn and knew it was time to come up with a healthier snack to feed his family. Mark bought a large popcorn maker for his basement and experimented with different kernels and flavors. He then had his friends, family, and neighbors sample the popcorn and they loved it. After two years of giving away the popcorn for free, Mark made Pop Daddy his full time job in 2013 and purchased an older bakery in Highland, MI. He originally shared a bakery with three other businesses. In 2015, he moved out of the bakery into a larger space in Whitmore Lake, MI. The facility has consistently grown in size to the 14,500 square feet it is today. The kernels are popped in olive oil and come in numerous flavors, such as original, white cheddar, and chipotle BBQ. 

Poptastic

Originating in British Columbia, the folks at Hardbite were determined to handcraft an all natural chip which tasted as good as the big brands but didn’t have any artificial flavors or preservatives. They experimented with cooking them until they got the perfect crunch, taste, and flavor. Along with using all natural ingredients, they were advocates of non-GMO before the movement was well known. Hardbite also buys the highest quality potatoes from like-minded farmers. As the company has grown, its product line has grown too. Hardbite has now introduced a sister brand known as Poptastic, which cooks popcorn in avocado oil and in the flavours (as they spell it in Canada) of honey sea salt, black sea salt, and spicy Canadian cheddah, and buttah for days.

PopTime Snacks

PopTime Snacks sees it as their mission to offer popcorn which is both light, airy, and great tasting while at the same consisting of clean ingredients derived from nature. Their products are also 100% free of GMOs and trans fats. PopTime uses avocado oil to pop the kernels. Their popcorn comes in a wide array of options, including sea salt,  salt with a hint of lime, which cheddar, movie theater butter, sweet & salty kettle corn, and sweet & spicy jalapeno kettle corn.

PopZup

Founders Julie & Marty Lapham created Popzup in 2016 with the purpose of offering a healthy snack which is better both for the people and the planet. Popzup has popcorn made with pure and simple ingredients which are sourced at least 50% from the local community and 100% within the eastern United States. The kernels are popped in coconut oil. Their cleverly named popcorn flavors are butter me up, cheddar head, cheesie herbie, and maple cinnamon toast. Popzup also sells popcorn kernels and seasonings. 

Sweet Chaos

In 2016, Sweet Chaos began popping corn in its kettles. Sweet has more than one meaning to them. They’re about being sweet (meaning awesome), their snacks tasting sweet, and being sweet to others. Sweet Chaos is owned by KLN Family Brands, a third generation family owned company. Their popcorn is made in coconut oil and free of artificial colors and flavors. Their offerings come in three different categories: regular popcorn in various flavors, drizzled popcorn, and seasonal drizzles. 

Tochi

Ian Seah, Dina Shi, and Marc Seah are first generation Asians who love Asian snacks as much as the next person, but want ones without hard to pronounce ingredients. So they founded a company called Tochi as tochi means land. The concept behind Tochi was infusing their favorite Asian flavors inspired by their homeland into functional protein rich snacks without any of the junk ingredients. Their product lines consist of popcorn and salmon chips. The popcorn uses coconut oil and comes in the Asian inspired flavors of salted egg, milk tea, black sesame, matcha, and ube. 

Valley Pop

Valley Pop‘s popcorn originates from seeds in the midwest where the soil in the farmland is abundant in phosphorus and potassium, which adds extra flavor to the popcorn. These seeds are sent to Valley Pop in 2200 pound bags. Once the bag is opened, the seeds become popcorn and shipped to consumers in the next 24 hours. No chemicals of any type are added. The salt is added directly to the kettle while the kernels are popped and the salt melts and blends with the coconut oil and popcorn. Valley Pop is able infuse the oil, salt, and popcorn together well through its high heat, low volume process. This approach also results in less unpopped kernels and hulls. Valley comes in multiple flavors, such as sea salt and cheddar cheese. They also sell popcorn kernels and kits with kernels, salt, and coconut oil which are free of any artificial ingredients 

For the latest episode of The Appropriate Omnivore podcast, host Aaron interviews Michele Thorne of Good Meat Project. Michele describes her journey into food systems transformation, beginning with concerns about food company transparency, ingredient adulteration, and corporate control, and shares her wide-ranging background from nonprofit management to raising animals herself. She explains Good Meat’s mission to advance an ethical meat system and details their programs, including FARMIN (farmer marketing support), BACON (butcher-chef partnerships), Good Meat Breakdown (consumer education), and various annual promotions. Michele emphasizes the organization’s focus on small and mid-sized local producers nationwide, busting myths about affordability and highlighting the benefits of direct-to-consumer bulk buying. She also discusses efforts to connect stakeholders and build community through initiatives like the Good Meat Switchboard and quarterly journals, while outlining challenges faced by the movement. Finally, Michele shares her vision for future resources and collaborations from Good Meat and invites listeners to join the community and explore their free educational offerings.

To make sure you never another episode of The Appropriate Omnivore, go to your favorite podcast app or site and subscribe to the podcast.

As we approach another Halloween, I’m reminded of how candy companies see a big boost in sales around the holiday. $2.08 billion to be exact. The major candy brands consist of ingredients sprayed with pesticides and chemicals plus are made with items such as sugar from genetically modified beets, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, soybean oil, artificial flavors, food colorings, growth hormones, paraffin wax, and other GMOs and unnatural items. Are you scared? You shouldn’t be. We now have a good number of organic candies on the market. 

Organic candies contain cane sugar instead of GMO sugar or high fructose corn syrup.  They also use natural ingredients for color and flavors, natural waxes, and more heat stable oils. Plus being certified organic means it has non-GMO ingredients which weren’t sprayed with any pesticides such as glyphosate. Additionally, the organic candy companies source their ingredients from farms where the workers are treated fairly and paid a fair price for their work. 

For this list, I searched for organic candies which are available in mini size, snack packs, or individually wrapped. These smaller versions of the candies can be purchased in bulk for a decent price and handed out to all of the trick or treaters who knock at your door.

In alphabetical order, here are the stories of 12 great organic candies you can buy for Halloween:

Alter Eco

Alter Eco was founded in 2005 by fellow activists Mathieu Senard and Edouard Rollet with the goal of bringing the best tasting foods to consumers concerned with the environment and fair trade. In 2010, Alter Eco was able to offset all of their emissions as carbon neutral; partnering with Pur Project, which plants and protects trees in Central and South America. Next, they accomplished two first’s of any company with the commercially compostable wrapper on their chocolate truffles in 2013 and the commercially compostable pouch on their quinoa products in 2016. Most recently, in 2020, they formed the Alter Eco Foundation to further the cause of regenerative agriculture to fight climate change and inequality. For Halloween, they offer large boxes of their nut butter bombs and truffles. Alter Eco also makes grass fed milk bars and dark chocolate bars.

Equal Exchange

Three managers of a New England food co-op met once a week for three years to discuss how they could change the way food is grown, bought, and sold. They ended up creating the company Equal Exchange, allowing farmers and workers to have control while their business is able to provide high quality nourishing food. They originally began by selling coffee beans, but then added hot cocoa mix and finally chocolate bars. Their milk chocolate and dark chocolate minis are suitable for Halloween.

Heavenly Organics

While Heavenly Organics was founded in 2005, it’s story goes back 35 years ago. Dr. I.S. Hooda helped small farms maintain traditional, sustainable, and organic practices. He also was key in teaching local beekeepers how to extract honey while being sustainable, bee friendly. and smoke free. Flash forward to 2005, Dr. Hooda and his son Amit started Heavenly Organics with various flavors honey all certified organic. Along with honey, Heavenly Organics sells chocolate honey patties in the options of mint, double dark, peanut, espresso, almond, ginger, and pomegranate.

Justin’s

Justin Gold began making his own varieties of nut butters as he knew he needed a better version than the conventional peanut butter. As he was first making the nut butter in his own kitchen, his roommates were often stealing his creations. So he wrote his name on the jar, leading to the current company name Justin’s. As his roommates clearly loved his product, they encouraged him to sell it at the Boulder Farmers Market. Justin then figured out how to turn this into a business. He later added organic peanut butter cups to his offerings. Mini versions of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate peanut butter cups are available.

Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain founder Jim Lampman bought fancy chocolates every year as holiday presents for his Ice House Restaurant staff in Burlington, VT.  One year, his pastry chef said the chocolates Jim bought weren’t all that great, so Jim dared him to make better ones. His chef took him up on the challenge and the two started making hand-rolled creamy truffles together. Today, Lake Champlain has a wide variety of chocolates which are all fair trade certified and GMO free. Many of their products are also certified organic. They remain a multi-generational family business which sources from local and sustainable partners. For Halloween candy, Lake Champlain has chocolate squares in the flavors of milk chocolate, crispy, sea salt & almonds, dark chocolate, dark chocolate toffee & almonds, and raspberry & dark chocolate.

Lovely

The Lovely Candy Co. started when Jackie Nakamura asked her husband Mike to bring her home a candy free of artificial ingredients, GMOs, and gluten. Soon after, Lovely was born. They now have a large and diverse line of candies. Many of which come individually wrapped, making them accessible for Halloween. The organic products they produce are chewy candy, lollipops, and hard candy.

Ocho

Natural food expert Denis Ring thought we’d soon see an organic candy bar hit the market. But he waited year after year without seeing this happen. So he eventually felt it was time to create one himself. Denis tried several different concepts and had his friend entrepreneur Scott Kucerik taste. As it only took one bite for Scott to be won over, Denis asked him to join OCHO Candy. Their Halloween variety pack has mini versions of their caramel, peanut butter, and coconut chocolate bars.

Raaka

Raaka prides itself on transparent trade. They purchase cacao directly from cooperatives and grower organizations who value quality, sustainability, field support, market access, and premium prices for farmers. They always purchase cacao premium prices which are higher than the commodity market and fair trade prices,  in addition to making sure the prices will remain stable. Every transaction of Raaka makes can be found on their website. They offer boxes of 100 mini bars in the flavors of pumpkin crunch, waffle crunch, pink sea salt, coconut milk, oat milk sweetened with maple sugar, and 100% cacao.

TCHO 

The name TCHO is the phonetic spelling of the first syllable of chocolate. The company originated with the mission to both produce the best chocolate and produce it in a way which makes the world a better place. All of their ingredients are sourced with methods to benefit the farms and taste delicious. TCHO looks for farms around the world which treat their growers fairly, source ethically, and reduce their carbon emissions. They created an in-house program called TCHOSource, which partners with cacao farmers, cooperatives, and research organizations in cacao producing countries in order to get the best cacao beans. For Halloween candy, TCHO has numerous choices with their mini size candy bars. First is their variety bad with the Shock Dog (chocolate & popping candy), Bone Cruncher (chocolate & crunchy quinoa), and Total Nutbar (oat milk chocolate & hazelnuts). Or there’s TCHO’s regular series of mini bars. These bars  include their single origin truffle filled dark chocolates Holy Fudge from Ghana and Born Fruity from Peru. TCHO’s other mini bars are their oat milk chocolate in the Toffee Time flavor of toffee & sea salt and Oat My God of fugde & caramel.

Torie & Howard

Torie & Howard is named after its founders Torie Burke and Howard Slatkin. The two were interior designers who checked out all types of cuisine and restaurant and visited farmers markets while they traveled around the world for their work. Along their journey, they both had to change their ways of eating. As Howard ate healthier to lose 100 pounds and Torie changed her diet due to food allergies, it became a lot harder to find snack food which would satisfy them. So they felt this was the time to start their own snack food company focusing on candy. Their multi-pack which consists of snack packs of assorted Chewie Fruities flavors is a candy which can be handed to the kids at your doorstep.

Yum Earth

Two young men had been living organic lifestyles. After both becoming fathers, they felt it was time to start an organic candy business. Yum Earth began with lollipops and then expanded to hard candy, gummy bears, gummy worms, jelly beans, sour candy, and licorice. Almost all of their candies are available in Halloween snack packs.

Zazubean

The origins of Zazubean start with a group of women on a bike trip at an island off the coast of British Columbia. Coincidentally, everybody in the group brought their favorite chocolate to keep their energy up as they pedaled along on the journey. All of the women then delved into a conversation about quality chocolate with the question of whether chocolate could follow ethical standards and be both healthy and tasty. After returning home, Zazubean co-founder Tiziana Ienna began concocting high quality chocolate with super powered ingredients. As her background was as a physiologist, she wanted to develop nutritionally dense recipes which promote a balance lifestyle. Co-founder Tara Gilbert soon joined Tiziana and brought her passion for social justice and sustainable business practices along to Zazubean. The two working together led to creating fair trade chocolate bars which are good for the environment, the chocolate growers, and people’s health. Zazubean’s Teezers are great for Halloween with their bite-sized dark chocolate bars.

Last week, I attended the Weston A. Price Foundation‘s annual Wise Traditions Conference. In a few days, I’ll be publishing my favorite new product discoveries from this year’s exhibitors. But first, I’ll tell the best success stories of CPG brands who exhibited at Wise Traditions in their early stages of development. 

I’m at many food conventions to learn about new brands, products, and trends. Wise Traditions is unique in several ways. A lot of the ones I attend are industry shows geared toward retailers, distributors, manufacturers, and brokers. Wise Traditions, on the other hand, is for consumers. And being a Weston A. Price member myself, I can count on all Wise Traditions food exhibitors being ones I approve of. 

But perhaps what makes Wise Traditions most special is that many of its vendors exhibit there before trade shows as they’re just getting started. I’ve been going Wise Traditions conferences since 2012 and have seen many of these then newfound companies now selling at stores nationally. 

In alphabetical order, here are the best success stories I’ve seen from Wise Traditions exhibitors:

Force of Nature

Regeneratively raised meats company Force of Nature was in its early stages when they first exhibited at Wise Traditions in 2019. CEO and co-founder Robby Samson says their “brand was focused on building awareness of regenerative agriculture, educating consumers on the nutritional and environmental benefits of our products, and creating meaningful partnerships with ranchers who shared our commitment to improving land health.” The Wise Traditions conference was a good match for Force of Nature as they were able to connect with people sharing their passions for ancestral health, sustainability, and holistic nutrition. Many of the attendees of that year’s conference became early consumers of their products. Force of Nature has seen tremendous growth since exhibiting at Wise Traditions. They’ve been able to grow their line into a wider variety of offerings, including their ready to eat meatballs. Force of Nature has plans to expand even further into more products as they continue to make regenerative meat more accessible from coast to coast.

Philosopher Foods

Philosopher Foods was only about two years old when they were a Wise Traditions vendor in 2015. They were in a select amount of stores and still trying to figure where to go with their sprouted nut butter business. Being at Wise Traditions, founder Tim Richards felt the market couldn’t better for helping them as they were already familiar with the concept of sprouting nuts. Tim was introduced to sprouting himself through a local Weston A. Price chapter. Since exhibiting nine years ago, Philosopher Foods has grown into a more established CPG brand. Along with sprouted nut butter, they’ve introduced Guts Nuts which are the first only and fermented and dehydrated nuts. Their plans for the future are to build the category of fermented nuts as Tim explains “similar to the way in which 20 years ago no one knew what kombucha was”. Philosopher also now sources its almonds from a California farm which is certified regenerative by the Regenerative Organic Alliance.

Pure Indian Foods

When Pure Indian Foods first exhibited at the Wise Traditions Conference in 2008, they were pretty much a startup, having only sold their ghee at farmers markets and local events. Many walking the exhibitor floor at the conference didn’t know what ghee was, so Pure Indians Foods was the first company to introduce the product to them. Founder Sandeep Agarwal says “As we know, that this audience has more faith in the traditional products.  So we had to explain its tradition and its history and how it has been a staple food in the Indian diet and many other countries for millennia and then people opened to that and they tasted it and they fell in love with it.” In addition, Sandeep thought Wise Traditions was great because they understand how ghee was good for them and he didn’t have to explain the benefits of saturated fat. At Wise Traditions, Pure Indians was selling one product. Their customers then began asking them to source other products associated with Indian foods, such as turmeric which was becoming popular 15 years ago. All expansion into new product territories has been driven by their consumers who have asked for spices, oils, and sauces. Pure Indian Foods is now up to almost 50 products. While they company has grown exponentially, they still have the same fundamentals of traditional organic products directly from the producer who Sandeep knows personally. Pure Indians also remains a small scale family run business with his wife making every batch of the ghee.

Rich Nuts

Rich Nuts began as a Wise Traditions vendor back in 2019 as they were stepping away from the cottage food industry and farmers markets. Founder Rich Pauwels adds “We were of the belief that we have some lightning in a bottle and we wanted to see how far we could take it.” Since the Weston A. Price Foundation was already into sprouting, they felt the conference was a great way to grow (no pun intended) their business. Unlike other conventions, he knew this would be one show where he wouldn’t have to explain why sprouted nuts are better. Rich and his teams’ intuition was correct as they sold out in two days. Rich himself had been a follower of the Weston A. Price Foundation and its Wise Traditions diet for its nutritional recommendations such healthy fats and organ meats. Since the Conference, Rich Nuts has grown exponentially. Exhibiting at Wise Traditions gave him more ideas of flavors and superfood ingredients to use in his products. Rich sees a bright future for his Rich Nuts as sprouted nut are still a small percentage of the overall nut market and have great potential to expand. 

Ingredients

• 1 medium head green cabbage, shredded
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 3-5 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1-2 inches fresh ginger, grated or thinly sliced
• 1 inch turmeric root, thinly sliced or grated (optional)
• 1 small hot pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
• 1 Tbsp horseradish root, grated (optional)
• Unrefined sea salt

Equipment

• Kitchen scale
• Large bowl
• Fermentation jar + lid or weight

Instructions

1. Place an empty bowl on your kitchen scale and tare to 0.
2. Add all your shredded/chopped vegetables – cabbage + fire cider ingredients.
3. Note the total weight (in grams) and multiply by 0.03 to get salt weight.
4. Add the salt to the bowl, then massage everything together for 10-15 minutes until the cabbage softens and brine forms.
5. Pack the salted, massaged mix tightly into a clean jar.
6. Press down firmly so that brine rises to cover all solids.
7. Use a weight or cabbage leaf to keep everything submerged.
8. Seal with a fermentation-safe lid and let sit at room temp for 10-21 days.
9. Taste as you go – it should become tangy, zesty, and effervescent. Once you love it, move to cold.

This recipe was provided by Vanessa Hargrove. Vanessa is a microbiome coach who offers classes in targeted microbial therapy. Her classes teach people to heal themselves with ferments, nourishing foods, and holistic living. She also wrote the book Homestead to Homestead with recipes for ferments, condiments, sourdough, natural skincare, and cleaning products.