When the Food Bill last came up in 2008, while the legislation failed to tackle the subsidies, it did take some important strides to protect farms from the environmental disasters, and farmers from the financial consequences of those disasters, plus it finally put money on the table to encourage the growth of vegetables.  Cuz, ya know, vegetables.  Before 2008 they weren't good for you.

For the entirety of First Foodie Barack Obama's term, nobody touched the Farm Bill, but now the pundits are dusting it off, getting it prepared for a new round of scrutiny, possible reforming how Americans grow their food and what Americans eat, taking on obesity and malnutrition in a mature, game fashion to really improve diets.... or they'll make everything truly, unfathomably terrible.

As Food News recently reported, the current proposal for Farm Bill legislation includes provision 733, which allow bioengineering companies like Monsanto to fiddle with food chemistry (nothing new there), only this time time the legislation strips judicial oversight.  It rolls back the courts ability to scrutinize what bio-engineers do, and limits their regulatory authority.

Among the numerous things that get us Peeled Snackers irate is politicians who seek their office with the goal of limiting government oversight, neutering themselves.  Anyone that boasts such contempt for public office frankly shouldn't run for it.  If governments role is to let everybody do whatever they want, no matter what the consequences, then why even HAVE a government?

Okay, with that off my chest, I'll say that if this passes, then any notion that Barack and Michelle are Foodies gets thrown out the window.  As a company, Peeled Snacks wants to encourage innovation in food, but SOMEBODY needs to keep an eye the innovators to insure that what they do is actually innovative (as opposed to destructive, which for the record, is a distinct option).

Some day, someone with authority (i.e. the Senate, Congress, or especially the president of the United States) will step up to the challenge of cleaning up our food supply.  How can we get the current powers that be to take our food supply seriously?  Sigh,

Peeled Skinny

The Real Energy Challenge invites you to join thousands of others in learning ways to get your energy from real food, eat better, and incorporate exercise into your daily life.  We've partnered with a slew of like-minded individuals, from dieticians to food policy experts to celebrities.  But while we've got a roster of fabulous, famous people backing us up, the person I want to join us is YOU.

And it's really not that hard.  Go to the Peeled Snacks Facebook page or the Real Energy Challenge Pinterest page and look at all the tips that participants are throwing onto the Wall.  Then pick 3 and give them a try.  There's a conversation going on inside about little steps that can make a BIG difference, and I challenge you to look through the tips and NOT find 3 simple steps to make your 2013 a healthier and more energized year.

With the Real Energy Challenge, Peeled Snacks is offering some ways to incorporate healthier eating and living into anyone's every day.  But we're also launching our first big initiative to let people know that we stand for healthier diet and lifestyle, and we're working for it.  Peeled Snacks, while certainly trying to offer healthier snacks to the communities out there, has always stood for something bigger and better than food: Everyone should feel good about their lives and their health and what they eat, and with a few simple choices, everyone CAN.

So join us in the challenge- take five minutes to find 3 tips, put them to work, and see what happens.  When you get hungry for another tip, come back for more- good people are posting all the time.  Thanks, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Peeled Skinny 

But  regardless of my family's delightful traditions, Thanksgiving around this country amounts to a holiday about FOOD, and REAL food to boot.  We've no shortage of eating holidays- without dwelling on the non-secular options, I love me some Memorial Day and 4th of July BBQs, and though Labor Day competes with "back-to-school" melancholy, I usually picnic on that typically lovely day.  But Thanksgiving?  Nothing beats that holiday for its vital vittles.

And unlike most other holidays, almost everybody gets behind the "Real Food" tradition.  According to my favorite crowd-sourcing site, Wikipedia, 45 million turkeys were sold for Thanksgiving in 2009.  That's one Turkey for every 7 people or so.  Statistically speaking, everybody got fresh cooked turkey in 2009, and the vegetarians were planning on eating real veggies that day anyway.  Let's just hope that every one of those turkeys was stuffed with yummy stuffing.

Thanksgiving also reinforces seasonal food choices- carrots, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts (yummmmm...); to say nothing of the seasonal pie choices.  Sure, stuffing COULD be made year-round, but almost everything else is native to November.  I'm not sure how sensitive most of America is to that seasonality, but it does prevent proof in the concept that even non-foodies can crave and enjoy seasonal food.

So here's my issue- Thanksgiving being so undeniably delicious a holiday, when do we only have one per year?   Why not enjoy a national "Spring Greens" holiday, or play a "Fruit Bowl" come August?  Perhaps the Obama's should put forward a new Spring Food Holiday, one with lamb and eggs and scallions.  Perhaps we could call it, ahem, "Thanksgetting"?  Think about it and get back to me.  Happy Season of Eating,

I'll offer that a: I already blogged about this the last time that Hostess went bankrupt, claiming that the real tragedy is a major company not innovating, and b: it remains a huge tragedy for all the many people employed by Hostess.  But in all the press, something else has come to light that really deserves some scrutiny- notice in THIS link how Hostess really takes the opportunity to kick its employees in the teeth after punching them in the crotch:

"We deeply regret taking this action," the company said. "Widespread strikes by the Bakers Union forced us to cease operations because we can longer produce or delivery product."

Hold it, the reason that they can't produce or deliver is the Bakers Union?  And they FORCED you to cease operations?  No, that's not what happened, because that's not what Unions do- they're in the business of KEEPING jobs, not making all of their members lose them.  The statement by the company amounts to a sour-grapes assault on their entire corporate structure, and almost a politicization of the situation, a sort of crass jab in the eye on the way out.

When you don't want to be scrutinized, you screw.  As E-bay starts to warm up its engines for selling off all the limited edition Twinkies left, 16,000 people are left without livelihoods, many more without health insurance, and one party involved wants to blame the greed of the other party.  Because that's how it ALWAYS happens- the OTHER party's greed.

Hostess was a public company, and was key to the food chain of the United States at a pivotal time (specifically, the post-war baby boom).  But the mismanagement and hubris of the players involved have earned them a special place in the land I used to call "H, E, double hockey sticks".  And I hope that they only serve Ding-Dongs there.

Peeled Skinny, who SHOULD be covering the 5 Hour Energy Drink, but will save that for next week

And New York, so resilient that it can carry on without ever sleeping, trudges forward in spite of the devastation and horror.  The Peeled Snacks Team has as a group volunteered its time to some of the neediest in the neighborhood, but the work that our small band of big hearts can do amounts to but a drop in the bucket (ahem).  Many people still need shelter, many buildings remain unsafe, and the city's engineers have months, maybe years of work ahead of them to rebuild the infrastructure.

But I actually wanted to blog about the other monumentally important event on everyone's lips, the PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION!  Peeled Snacks can't vote but it DOES have issues that are very important to it.  Such as....

1: The Food Bill - next year, the Farm Bill will come up in congress again, and while it's probably too much to hope for, there'll be the opportunity to, again, reconsider how the government can stimulate agriculture.  Nobody around here's optimistic enough to think that this year Congress will do away with the pointless, expensive, unhealthy corn subsidies, but should a candidate ever think seriously about that slow legalized poisoning of our population, well, that candidate would have the dried fruit vote.

2: Infrastructure - especially after the week we've had in New York City, around here we're more concerned than every about America's roads, bridges, levee systems, rails, etc.  Without these, people can't get their Peeled Snacks delivered.  I know that both candidates talk a good deal about infrastructure, but here's to hoping that, whoever walks away with the prize actually DOES something about it.

3: Energy - between wars winding down (or up), environmental uncertainty, climate change, political snake pits, you name it, the price of oil and energy goes up and businesses with the responsibility of delivering something suffer.  A real energy policy cannot consist of three words (Drill Baby Drill?), nor can it end with hoping solar will save us.  This is not a partisan issue, it's an economic issue, and everybody better come together on this one, because it has all too much power to make so many things fall apart.

Luckily, Peeled Snacks CAN'T vote, so it has no responsibilities here.  But if it COULD vote, a Mango would be president.

Here's to exercising your right to live well,

 Peeled Skinny

Moderator:  Welcome everyone to the debate between the esteemed bottle of Grape Juice and the honorable bottle of Grape Soda.  Since the participants do not have hands, I have flipped a coin to decide who gets the first question, and it's the Grape Juice.  Juice, who is better for America- the Juice, or the Soda?

Grape Juice: Thanks for the opportunity to be here.  Anybody that knows anything knows that juice is plainly better than soda.  I'm JUICE.  I come from FRUIT.  I don't have funny bubbles lashing at your tongue, and what you taste when you taste me is GRAPE, unlike my colleague "Grape" Soda over there.  Who knows WHAT you taste when you taste him.

Grape Soda: Can I butt in here?  You taste Grape when you taste me- grape just like you, since the exact same flavor that's in your juice is in my delicious soda.  But what Americans need to know is that on an ounce per ounce basis, I have LESS calories.  I'm better for America's youth because I won't fatten them up as much as the other guy will.

Moderator: I'm sorry, Mr. Soda, you said you have LESS calories?  But how can that be?

GS: Well, as many of you know, my dear wife, Diet Grape Soda, she's in the audience tonight, take a bow darling, she has ZERO calories and exactly the same taste as me, but the sugars in soda are added.  So my makers took a look at America today, and they made the right decision- add less.

GJ: When you're a chemical made in a chemical plant, sure, you can add a little bit more of this or less of that.  But when you're food, REAL, American made FOOD, you can take a little or give a little.  You just are what you are.

GS: And you sir are fat.

GJ: Sure I have an extra 10-20% of your calories, but I also have NUTRITION!  I have potassium and Vitamin C, whereas Mr. Chemical over there only has sugar.

GS: Hey, if the American people want Vitamin C, I can add Vitamin C.  I'm that kind of product- you can change me to meet your needs.

GJ: But you can't change me- what you see is what you get.

GS: And what you get is fat, but okay, you can't change Grape Juice, but you can use Grape Juice to change other things, usually for the worse.

Moderator: Such as?...

GS: Such as other juices.  Grape Juice must be the most common juice in the world, since you find it as a filler and sweetener in Cranberry juice, apple juice, even tomato juice.

GJ: See, I just make everything better.

GS: You taint everything, and hide the real ingredients from unsuspecting Americans.

GJ: I'm on the labels.

GS: And so are your calorie counts.

GJ: And so are YOUR ingredients- like Artificial Flavors (whatever those are), preservatives and <gasp> High Fructose Corn Syrup.

GS: High Fructose Corn Syrup is just as bad for you as any other sugar!

GJ: Is it?  I think that the American people ought to know the truth...

Moderator: Yes, the American people certainly do deserve the truth, and the fact of the matter is that you both are unhealthy, possibly toxic, and any effort to make grape soda seem healthier than grape juice just underscores how altogether unhealthy juice and any sweetened drink is for people.  Now, next question, for Grape Soda, what can be done about Chinese grapes?

[At this point, both the bottle of Grape Juice AND the bottle of Grape Soda opened their tops and poured themselves all over the moderator, ending the debate.  Turned out that BOTH were made in China]

Happy Snacking,

Peeled Skinny

This past weekend I happened upon this corner store in Brooklyn (a store that features Peeled Snacks, oh yeah) and snapped a pic.  Without disclosing its exact location, I'll say that this "bodega" resides on the outskirts of a very desirable neighborhood, though stores like it pepper the 5 boroughs.  These types of stores have always boasted similar goods- groceries, beer, soda, cigarettes.  Most used to boast "Newspapers", but they may as well be advertising "Dinosaur eggs".  More and more, though, these corner stores proudly boast "Organic".

And that, I suppose, is where we come in.

One of the original mandates for Peeled Snacks as defined by our founder and president was for Peeled Snacks to be made available "anywhere you need a snack".  We make a very good thing, and we want people to find that good thing wherever and whenever they need it.  So I try to do a lot of business with these types of corner stores, and in New York City, these bodegas make for a regular snacking destination.

But these bodegas also peddle sodas, and cigarettes, and the lottery, and all sorts of things that at least on first impression, I wouldn't necessarily want advertised next to our tasty snacks.  Somehow, Dr. Pepper and Pineapple doesn't seem the most natural mix to me (no offense to Dr. Pepper).  Peeled Snacks as a brand shouldn't be snobby, but nor should we be associated with Camel unfiltereds.  In this store, though, our snacks are about 4 feet from the tobacco section.  Is that a good idea?

As the organic movement grows and becomes more mainstream, this sort of placement becomes my reality- organic Peeled Snacks elbow-to-elbow with Pringles and Pork Rinds, resting under the glow of a Budweiser sign.  To my understanding, though, this non sequitur placement, this seemingly ironic juxtaposition, this clash of old fatteners and new fulfillers, THIS is PROGRESS!  Now we're finally GETTING somewhere!

If enough organic items can weave their ways in and amongst the mass-produced corn chips and sodas, then bit by bit we can replace the less healthy products and offer people really better, really GOOD snacks and treats.  Sure, we want to be available at Whole Foods, Whole Foods is GREAT!  But to sneak in to the corner store and claim our territory amongst the utterly-non-Whole-Foods items, well THAT'S getting us somewhere worth going.

Happy Snacking,

Peeled Skinny

http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/07/31/corn-soybean-prices/

Right now, across the US more than half of the counties have declared a drought emergency.  In high summer, that means no swimming pools, sure, but much more importantly, it means wilted crops.  And that means higher food prices, especially for the two cash crops responsible for more food-stuffs in the US (those'd be corn and soy) than any other.  Are you ready for your food prices to go up? To go up a LOT?

I'm curious to know how corn purveyors (like Coke and Pepsi) plan for massive commodity fluctuations like the one we're bracing for.  Are they prepared to charge 25% more for their beverages?  What would that do to the bottom line?

But I'm more curious about what the average Joe and Jane will do when bread prices go up 25%.  If every cost of living goes up, how can people make ends meet when ends are already so hard to tie together?

Though Peeled Snacks doesn't use corn in any of our products, we've had a tough season too.  Every year we have SOME fruit whose price goes up, but most years we have a price or two that goes down as well.  This year?  It's all up-up-up.

The bright side?  Well, this might be pushing it, but next year the Farm Bill comes up again, and perhaps a season of drought will make the powers that be really think about what goes into the bill, and take away some of the corn and soy subsidies.  Not that any food-stuff would fare very well in this season's weather.  But in this season, I'll take whatever light at the end of whatever tunnel I can find.  Happy Snacking,

Peeled Skinny

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57479789-10391704/opinions-clash-during-new-york-city-soda-ban-public-hearing/

The issue of obesity gets all of us Peeled Snackers riled up.  The arguments made by doctors and specialists consulted for Mayor Bloomberg's plan entertain no scientific debate- sugary beverages make people fat and unhealthy, and that creates a cost to society.  The arguments made by groups like ConsumerFreedom.com (which was invented to support tobacco companies, but now has new fat-cat clients, ahem), deserve some attention too- what's the role of government in determining diet and habit?  When is enough enough?

But I contend that both sides of the argument hold no water.  Bloomberg is trying to ban the sale of an item whose sale will eventually tax the government.  ConsumerFreedom.com wants the government to stay out of personal choices.  Neither of these sides bother to address the real problem, but luckily you're reading this blog, so you're about to know what this is REALLY about....

Sugary drinks exist because of federal subsidies to corn farmers, plain and simple.  The government pays half of all costs for growing corn, making it the most profitable cash-crop for American farmers, and making corn-syrup dirt cheap.  If Bloomberg wanted to really deal with the issue, he'd lobby the federal government to kill the corn subsidies.  The argument that the government has no business sticking its nose in our business holds no water, given that the government stuck its nose in our business in the first place when they funded the cheap corn.

I believe that Mayor Bloomberg is coming at this with the best intentions (not so for groups like ConsumerFreedom.com whose intentions are to preserve value for stock-holders at the expense of consumers), but he's picking a fight that's far from the real battlefield.  Perhaps Bloomberg's efforts will increase public awareness, but maybe they'll also distract from the real issues at hand.  And the issue starts with the venerable federal pork known as the corn subsidies.

If you feel that your freedom is being violated by a city trying to ban the sale of sugary drinks of a certain size, fine.  I offer that my freedom as a business owner is being violated by the federal government unfairly fixing the price on the WORST food commodity on the market.  So whose freedom is more important?  But honestly, I doubt you feel that your freedom is being violated.  You probably just want to go see "The Avengers" in peace.  Amen to that.

Happy Snacking,

Peeled Skinny, who would like to see "The Avengers" in peace too

Hopefully, wherever you go, Peeled Snacks will be there with you, or at least there FOR you. When Peeled Snacks was first conceived 7 or 8 years ago, our founder (and boss) imagined those big hunks of fruit (and back then, nuts) as being primarily available ON-THE-GO, and there's nothing more "on-the-go" than "the Road".  Inspiration came to her from the crappy selection of snacks then available at airports, and darn if she didn't do something about THAT, eh?

Lately you can find Peeled Snacks in many travel markets and airports, from Hudson News stores all over the country to hotel mini-bars, from those swank Cibo markets in big airport terminals to the super-convenient Relay stores near the gates.  These travel retailers have really helped Peeled Snacks meet it's mission of making our truly good snacks available everywhere you need a snack.  And that's a worthy mission, given all the crap out there. 

Perhaps I should stop referring to the competition as "crap".  How about dreck? Gunk? Food-like-ickiness?  A lot of food you find in on-the-go may promise the chance to eat something a little bit BETTER than some other even worse product, but in airports you'll usually have a tough time finding something unmistakably GOOD.  And that was our founders promise- to make something truly GOOD available where you need it.

We don't just make something "better".  We make something truly good.

It's a fun job, making good stuff and getting it to where it needs to be.  Where else would you like to find Peeled Snacks?  We take your pointers, so send them on in.

And happy travels, wherever you're going this travel season.   Happy Snacking too,

Peeled Skinny

(for further reading on the Seder Passover held at the USDA, check out this article on the USDA blog)

Noha Waibsnaider
Founder & CEO
Peeled Snacks

From Feed the Belly: The Pregnant Mom’s Healthy Eating Guide (Sourcebooks, 2009) by Frances Largeman-Roth, RD

Citrus-Spiked Rice Pudding

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

Makes 5 servings

2 1/2 cups frozen brown rice or cooked white or brown rice

1 cup organic 1% milk or vanilla soy or almond milk

2 tablespoons fat-free, sweetened condensed milk

2 teaspoons orange zest

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

½ cup chopped Peeled Snacks organic dried Apricots

1. Place the frozen or cooked rice, 1% milk, and sweetened condensed milk in a medium saucepan, and heat over medium heat until shimmering, about 5 minutes. Add the zest, vanilla, cinnamon, and maple syrup, and cook an additional 10 minutes, until most of the milk has been absorbed.

2. Stir in the chopped Peeled Snacks organic apricots and heat through, about 4 to 5 minutes. Serve warm or cold with a dusting of cinnamon if you’d like. Enjoy!

Calories 204; Fat 2g (Sat 0.2g, Mono 0.3g, Poly 0.3g); Cholesterol 1mg; Protein 4g; Carbohydrate 3g; Sugars 16g; Fiber 3g; Iron 1mg; Sodium 37mg; Calcium 111mg

Makes 10 muffins

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups bran crumbs (ground bran crackers)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1 large egg or egg substitute, lightly beaten
• 1 1/3 cups low fat buttermilk
• 1/2 cup Peeled Snacks Cherry-Go-Round
  
• Greek plain yogurt, for topping

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375º F. Prepare a muffin pan with nonstick baking spray. 2. In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients. 3. In a small bowl, combine canola oil, molasses, agave nectar, egg and buttermilk and mix well. 4. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix. 5. Stir in Peeled Snacks Cherry-Go-Round and fill prepared muffin pans 3/4 full. 6. Bake 15 to 20 minutes in preheated oven or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve bran muffins crumbled atop nonfat Greek plain yogurt.

Last month Peeled Snacks launched in Duane Reade drug stores.  In the last couple of years, Duane Reade has made some fantastic strides towards providing genuinely healthy, fresh options.  This year they tapped Peeled Snacks for their snack department.  It didn't take long for Duane Reade to see that Peeled Snacks is a MOVER, thanks to loyal supporters and newcomers alike, and that they need to keep plenty of Much-Ado-About-Mango around.

CVS has joined the healthy snack movement as well, putting our organic snacks in various places around their NYC stores.  With CVS, we're just starting in a small geography, but with over 7,000 doors, CVS represents an opportunity for Peeled Snacks to take a giant stride towards accomplishing our goal of making our treats available everywhere you need a snack.

All this momentum speaks to a retail environment that's drastically different than the one Peeled Snacks faced in its early days.  Whereas we once had to fight tooth and nail for a chance to be available to a store's customers, now retailers come to us because we provide a solution to one of their big problems- what can these stores offer that's truly GOOD?  Tastes good, looks good, is good for you?  Happily, that's us.

And right now, it's getting better and better to be us.

-Peeled Skinny

Lately a good deal of press has been given to the toxicity of sugar and what should be done with it.  Last Spring, the New York Times Magazine published a great expose about sugar's dangers.  More recently "Nature" magazine published a startling article calling for the federal regulation of sugar.  This debate seemed to me relegated to the world of the press, talking heads, and foodies.  But no longer, alas.

Last week, food activist and author Mark Bittman, published a thought provoking article  about the politicization of sugar. Bittman heralded Florida Republican state senator Ronda Storms for her tackling the sugar debate.  He points out that Storms trends in most social issues to the far right, but took flack from party members (as well as lefties) for her anti-added sugar stance.  She criticizes her State's Food Stamp program for allowing food stamps to be used to purchase sugary food (along with tobacco, alcohol, and other taboos).

Here at Peeled Snacks HQ, we've always felt a little righteous about the whole sugar debate, seeing as we've never actually added any sugar.   But that righteousness is color blind- it's not red, it's not blue, it's the color of FOOD.  We have worked for several years trying to spread the word (to ALL people, regardless of political stance) on the dangers of added sugar, and we strive to provide snacks that taste yummy but aren't full of sugar. 

In theory, food issues should be color blind.  Food is health, and a healthy population is in everyone's best interest.  But food makes MONEY, and money, well, money is politics.  In a season when lawmakers are overturning stone after stone looking for pork-barrel budget bits to cut out, no law maker that I know of has discussed cutting out the corn subsidy, in spite of the BILLIONS it would save, and the impact its removal would have on public health. 

Public health should have no party lines.  Whatever else Storms stands for, in this matter she's spot-on.

-Peeled Skinny