Granola Girls

So it may not be seasonal but before I forget I wanted to mention a lovely local food product in Saint John that people may or may not be aware of. A mother-daugher team here is producing homemade granola bars - the kind without all that scary stuff like high fructose corn syrup, the stuff that Michael Pollan warns is everywhere and contributes massively to our obesity and diabetes crises. Even as I sit here now I have pulled two tired "granola bars" from my briefcase - they are handy things in a hunger crisis - and see that they definitely would not pass Pollan's tests for "real" food. They have many more ingredients than five (his rule of thumb); and one contains many unpronounceable ingredients and high maltose corn syrup (not sure how this differs from high fructose corn syrup). What ticks me off about things like commercial "granola bars" is how we quite innocently assume that they're good for us - they contain good things like nuts and seeds and dried fruit. Oh but the things that are done to those nuts and seeds and dried fruits when they become part of what is loosely called a "granola bar" (or now increasingly "cereal bar"). It makes me crazy how people's efforts to eat well have been used and abused by the food industry. In any case, there is help at hand. The Granola Girls are now selling actual granola bars i.e. organic oats, raw nuts and seeds and dried fruit (and a little dark chocolate). I can attest to their excellence. They're making their bars available by order through their website http://www.granolagirls.ca as well as at Feel Good Store, Ambience Spa and the Kingston Farmers' Market.