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CHFA 2014 Roundup!

  • September 16, 2014
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It’s no secret that the Canadian Health Food Association Show (CHFA) is my favourite weekend of the year – this is my third year covering my newest finds on my blog (2013 post, 2012 post). It’s like my version of Halloween – over two days. I look forward to trying out new things like the latest kombuchas, kelp and shirataki noodles, chocolate covered cacao beans, date syrup, and doing shots of raw avocado oil. By the way, these things that I just listed were a handful of my favourite things that I tried this year, and have pictures of many of them below.

Like at any health food store, you still need to ask questions, and read labels, since some companies define “healthy” very differently than I think healthy is. It was so nice to see so many more non-GMO certified products, but shocking to still see the amount of conventional sugar and corn ingredients in some products. Things like instant oatmeal for “healthy” breakfasts, in single-use disposable containers with 28 grams of conventional sugar shouldn’t really be there, in my opinion. But, thankfully in the 24 huge aisles there were copious amounts of truly healthy and delicious products, plus some less healthy, but still really good organic treats.

I’m sorry for the amount of pictures below that don’t have close-ups of the product, but instead are of my classic pose. I have inserted the website address for each product along with each picture. I’m also sorry for missing or excluding some products that I may have included in other posts, years past or just missed due to the delicious overwhelm of the weekend. I do focus on the organic products, and generally the nut-free ones too. There are MANY other great brands at the show, but the ones I have pictures of, were the ones I liked best, and that I want to have at home!

I also want to extend my sincere gratitude to all of the people over the course of the weekend who spent the time to talk and encourage me and help me explore more foods and more ideas. You will notice that I took pictures with many of the people at the booths – sometimes the owners, sometimes marketing people, and sometimes people who work for the distributor and it’s because they took their time to explain and promote the virtues of their products with me. It’s not often you can ask questions about the product and get answers directly from people who made it or know all about it, that’s part of what makes this weekend so great!

I hope you try many of the products below, and hope you’ll let me know if you agree with me on how good they are! Some may not be out on store shelves yet, but they will be soon!

 

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After 14 hours, over two days, on the CHFA show floor, I’m leaving with lots of samples and a big energized smile!

 

On our way to day one of the CHFA East! The TTC gets you there way faster especially with all of the crazy traffic in Toronto!
On our way to day one of the CHFA East! The TTC gets you there way faster especially with all of the crazy traffic in Toronto!

 

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I’m so happy that the CHFA recognized me as “MEDIA”! Thank you!

 

 

 

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Have you ever tried Shirataki noodles? They are made of tapioca and konjac, which is a healthy root. They didn’t have much flavour, in a good way, so we will be trying to use them instead of other pasta! www.japangoldusa.com
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I started my day off today, and will try to every day with Instant Lion’s Mane mushroom tea. I learned from Tero, a true mushroom enthusiast, that it’s great for focus among lots of other things. It seems like we should all be drinking one (or more) of these every day. Their website is so cool, too. www.foursigmafoods.com
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These are my new lunch containers! They are glass but surrounded in silicone so not fragile! So far they are leakproof, too. Thanks to Mary from Soko for sharing these in different sizes and colours just new to Canada! www.lifefactory.com
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I have to say that after 13 hours at the CHFA this weekend, these two people gave me a place to sit down, and energized me by just speaking with them! So great to meet people with contagious enthusiasm! Thank you Marque DaSilva Landells and Kathy Smart!
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Luke’s Organic is definitely my favourite NEW brand from this year. I’m a sucker for a good chip and this one is organic, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, vegan and really, really great. They are very thin with a good salt factor, but not too much and have tons of neat varieties and flavours and I tried 3 of their crackers too, also fantastic! www.lukesorganic.com
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Chia gels and pudding are not my things at all, but these organic pouches that are supposed to be good for energy and health are my brother and sister’s thing – can’t you tell by their faces? With flavours like Green Magic (includes bananas, mangos, kale, spirulina and chlorella), their favourite, they were pretty excited. I want to try the Apple Cinnamon, but it wasn’t available at the show. Have you tried their drink in glass bottles? It’s also great. www.mammachia.com
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Ok, it’s no secret that you can make your own popcorn really easily. I can even make it, but if you are going to buy popcorn, this is certified organic and popped with organic coconut oil and sprinkled with himalayan pink salt. Simple and great. www.lesserevil.com
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My mom caught me doing shots of avocado oil. This is again from Mira, website in the next picture.
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Mira has multiple kinds of avocado oil from avocado farmed sustainably and without pesticides. They have one with edible avocado skin cut into little stars. I did shots of all 3 at the show, each delicious, but the raw, unfiltered one was my favourite by far, because it had the best avocado flavour. www.miranaturals.com
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These kale chips are almost as good as my mom’s! Because they have nuts in them, I wouldn’t bring them home, but you should if you don’t have nut allergies. This is the owner who owns his own certified organic kale farm, how cool is that? There are many flavours, including new ones like curry lime, peppercorn ranch (only two flavours are on his website as I saw, but he has many more!) www.solarrawfood.com
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Selfie with Mary from Soko Distribution. She carries things like Lifefactory glass bottles and containers and Strawesome glass straws! Everything you need for litterless lunches! www.sokodistribution.com
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I first met Kailey (pictured here) at Doug McNish’s Public Kitchen, and only now tried her creamy vegan sauces, which she sampled on pasta, but I imagine would be great on a myriad of things, including perhaps potatoes or nachos. This is another product that I can’t try at home since it’s cashew based, but you can. It’s vegan, which means it’s dairy-free and so great! www.soultobowlsauces.com
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These crackers that I’ve written about before are raw and vegan. Up until now they have been mostly sweet, but now Julia (owner and creator pictured here) has developed some great savoury flavours. I LOVED the garlic ones, and they are FANTASTIC dipped into Raw Foodz’s new garlickly vegan, raw cream “cheese”. Both are nut-free too! www.nudfud.com
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People always tell me that I’m short, which is true, but Kirk who was working with Hardbite (who have a new GMO-free parsnip chip worth trying) even made me feel shorter! I wish Hardbite chips were organic, because I would definitely buy and share them!
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We drink a LOT of tea at home, but it’s mostly loose leaf or herbs from our garden or from the market with the exception of Numi Tea bags, since they aren’t toxic! Check to see what your tea bags are made from!! They also have this really neat savoury tea, which is very similar to a very light soup. I want to try their new “indulgent” teas that I just saw on their website, but didn’t see at the show! www.numitea.com
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I’ve got oodles of noodles in my hands! You can eat these noodles right out of the bag – you only need to rinse with water! They are kelp based and taste great when we make soba noodle salad and add them in for colour (they are almost black!) I couldn’t find the website for these, sorry!
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I’m not a coconut water fan, unless it’s in my smoothie, but this year there were multiple other waters that weren’t just sugared water in plastic bottles. This one was DELICIOUS and it was Birch Water, that’s right, from a birch tree. And, it’s certified organic and in the best packaging I’ve ever seen for a drink! Unfortunately it does come from far away, and not yet available here, but they are looking for a distributor, if you know one! www.sealandnrstore.com
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I love Dr. Bronner’s. The only food they have is their coconut oil which has more purposes than one can even believe, as does their soap. I explained to Marc, pictured here, how I was a food blogger but a huge Bronner’s Soap Enthusiastic and he was great to speak with! Have you tried their soap? You must read their labels and learn what the company stands for, it’s pretty impressive! I just read on their website about their “Magic Foam Experience” and now I want to try it – good, clean fun!! www.drbronner.com
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I wasn’t really into supplements, but the developer of this product explained to me that her bottles were filled with organic food. Pretty neat. Are your vitamins made up of organic food? Something else to consider!!
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If you eat bread from a bag, I recommend Silver Hills highly. Their new organic sprouted ancient grains bread makes for great sandwich or toast. It’s a Canadian company, too! www.silverhillsbakery.ca
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A great organic tahini in a glass jar. They claim to be best-selling and the best ever, and it did taste good to me. Although they cannot guarantee that there won’t be cross-contamination, he told my mother that their seeds and nuts are not processed on the same equipment or same room. www.onceagainnutbutter.com
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These crackers are GREAT. They are very light, crunchy and can hold a ton of hummus! They are certified organic, certified gluten-free and made almost entirely of buckwheat (only other ingredient is a bit of salt). Try them – and their breadsticks too. I met the owner and creator and she was really kind. www.paradeigma.eu
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Previously known as “Sticks and Twigs” which I assume was less appealing than “Pretzels” as they are now called, they launched “everything” flavour and they are great! I also enjoy their crackers and cookies – free of so many allergens and delicious! I can’t wait for them to launch their graham crackers which I just read about on their website now! www.marysgonecrackers.com
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Go Go Quinoa obviously has lots of quinoa (organic), but I love their Quinoa Crunchies. It could be a snack, it could be a cereal, but it’s fun to eat and slightly sweet. Think big puffs of quinoa and rice with a little bit of organic sugar in original, chocolate or cinnamon varieties. www.gogoquinoa.com
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This is Lindsey from Prana. They sell a huge assortment of nuts, seeds and dried fruits and all are certified organic now! You should really check out their website because it’s too hard to list everything they sell. www.pranana.com

 

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If you haven’t tried Made Good bars or granola minis you must get them as soon as you can. These amazing little bars are completely satisfying, sweet and are nut-free and perfect to stash in your locker at school just in case! Everyone who works with this company is super, super nice and are really awesome to be around. www.madegoodfoods.com
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This is Tero, president of Four Sigma Foods giving me nice little bunny ears along with Dawn who distributes his instant mushroom drinks that I wrote about above (and lots of other great products like Sacred Chocolate and SunWarrior). www.rawelements.ca
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There’s a lot more to maple syrup than I understood! Certified Organic means a lot – from how many taps are allowed in each tree to what they clean the lines with and foaming agents used! www.belandorganicfoods.com
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I love that these gimme organic roasted seaweed snacks are certified organic and their new teriyaki flavour is awesmazing. If you like super spicy, try their wasabi! www.gimmehealth.com
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See the icon in the top left of the box? This cereal is organic and a bit too sweet for me, but since it supports bees (we need them!), I will enjoy eating them! www.onedegreeorganics.com
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Best. Ice Cream. Ever. Hands down. And there’s not even dairy in it! It’s dairy-free, soy-free, and gluten-free and totally awesmazing. The best news???? Salted Caramel ice cream bars coated in organic chocolate are coming!!! All 4 of these products are, it’s worth clicking on this picture to make it bigger and drool over the descriptions on the packaging! www.coconutbliss.com

 

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I haven’t been a big fan of kelp noodles, but these were dressed with Nama Shoyu (a raw soy sauce product) and were great. www.shop.goldminenaturalfoods.com

 

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This is my favourite pasta. Or one of them at least. It’s gluten-free but everyone we make it for likes it and says it tastes like “normal” pasta. It’s great hot or for pasta salad. www.truroots.com
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Soy-free seasoning sauce that tastes like soy sauce, get that?! It’s made from raw organic coconut sap and sea salt. That’s it. It’s really good, and made by a Canadian company! www.nakedcoconuts.com

 

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This is Maple Water. It’s apparently Canada’s version of coconut water – and I really liked it. It’s not sweet like you would think, it’s basically maple sap. www.eauderableseva.com
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So, I do know how to cut open an avocado and smash it with some lemon or lime juice and fermented hot sauce, but if you were to buy guacamole, this organic one powered me up in the first aisle of the show! www.avocado.com
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Not organic, but I have a soft spot for Daiya. The people at the Daiya booth know me well, and it’s really because I keep going back to sample their pizza and products. They have new “blocks” of “cheese” out – I suggest the Smoked Gouda, which is new – and not even on their website yet (at the time that I am typing this) www.ca.daiyafoods.com

 

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We take oregano oil around here and this guy claims that his is the best. I will let you know. He did have great certified organic and certified DOP (certifies excellence from Europe) olive oils and balsamic. You should watch the video on their website about fake oilve oil, you don’t want to be eating that! www.louianna.com
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You can make your own popsicles, or get these TeaPops! It was the first thing that I ate on the first day of the show, and still stands out in my mind. No sugar added, organic, and packed with fruit and rooibos tea, and nut-free too! I tried the mint one and loved it. www.deebeesorganics.com
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Not really food again, but it’s at least not harmful when swallowed! It’s Earthpaste toothpaste based on clay. Try it. Trust me! www.earthpaste.com
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This pig is proud to be NOT bacon! He/she was promoting a hot new product called coconut bacon – basically smoked coconut crispy pieces. Great snack or on salad!
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Three Farmers, who makes #awesmazing Camelina Oil, are now making Roasted Chickpeas! Coming out soon in two flavours: Balsamic and Cracked Pepper, and Barbecue! www.threefarmers.ca
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Here’s another vegan (dairy-free) coconut based frozen dessert. And it’s GREAT. If you let it thaw slightly, it tastes like amazing soft serve ice cream. My favourite flavour is the Mint Chocolate! www.screaminbrothers.com

 

 

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As I said above, try Luke’s Organic Chips and Crackers, they are great!
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I could eat these all in one sitting – maybe two.
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If you haven’t yet tried Yoso Vanilla Coconut Yogurt, you must! It’s dairy-free and tastes like pudding!! I love it with granola and fruit. www.yoso.ca
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These Choco Chews tastes just like Tootsie Rolls according to my mom and the person working at the Surf Sweets booth (makers of this and other organic, allergen-free candy). Sugar is still sugar, but these are certainly a great alternative to other toxic stuff. They are also launching something that looks and tastes like Starburst fruity chews. www.surfsweets.com
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Hanging out behind the Date Lady booth – organic dates, organic date syrup, organic date caramel sauce, organic date chocolate spread (NEW and awesmazing), and date balsamic vinegar (spectacular!). www.ilovedatelady.com
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This is not the greatest picture, because you can’t see the great looking packaging up close, but this pasta line is another best find at the show. It only has one ingredient – either red lentils or black beans, made into various shapes of pasta. I like the red lentil fusilli the best, and it’s better hot with sauce (I don’t recommend using it in cold dishes like pasta salad!). www.tolerantfoods.com

 

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FINALLY! An instant oatmeal packet that doesn’t have TONS of sugar. In fact, this oatmeal has no added sugar at all and is packed with superfoods like buckwheat, chia and hemp (I don’t always love the textures of these ingredients, but have to say, I really liked this one, especially the coconut variety as it was very creamy. I added a little cinnamon and date syrup to it!) www.naturespath.com
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Que Pasa? What’s up at Nature’s Path is this smokey chipotle salsa and thin, crispy blue, red or yellow corn tortillas. Get them! www.quepasafoods.com
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If you are not using coconut sugar yet, you are missing out. I love it stirred into my oats while it’s being finished at the end for a rich caramel-like flavour. You can use it for anything that requires sweetness. www.bigtreefarms.com
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And……..more coconut! This time in the form of vinegar. I tried the balsamic style one and it was quite good. They said that it retains all known health benefits of virgin coconut oil, so that’s a huge bonus! www.nucoconut.com
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I had such a great conversation with this man, and unfortunately cannot remember his name now, but he was one of the nicest guys at the show and was really proud of his mints. Gluten-free, kosher, organic, nut-free, vegan, only sweetened with maple syrup and in many awesmazng flavours – who won’t these please? www.vermints.com
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MORE COCONUT! This time, in the form of snacking chips! There were tons of sweet, salty and savoury flavours of coconut around the show, but this was the only one that I saw that was organic – the others were just natural. I wonder why that is. Thanks Prairie Naturals. I don’t have a website for them because it seems to be all healthcare and not snacks, but hopefully you recognize the bag on shelf from this picture since it’s bright colours!
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No sugar added soda! And it tastes awesmazing! They have everything from the classic root beer and cream soda to pomegranate, orange and of course, ginger – and tons of others. All in a glass bottle! No cans here! www.birdieandbills.com
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Incredible ice cream sandwich cookies from Julie’s Organic are coming to freezers near us soon! I can’t wait for these vegan, nut-free, organic delicious treats to be in my freezer! www.juliesorganic.com

 

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This is Sarah Dobec from the Big Carrot and I being apples at the ONFC booth! Just random but lots of fun!
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Have you ever tried tempeh? It’s fermented soy beans and Noble Bean makes the best I’ve tried. It might not sound great to you, but you can grill it, bake it, bbq it, fry it, boil it and my personal favourite is to enjoy it as a burger! It’s very high in protein and fermented foods are incredibly healthy! www.noblebean.com
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Just a neat thing to note: all of these beans, seeds and lentils are grown by local and organic farmers! Go Ontario!
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Great to see the familiar friendliest faces at Rise Kombucha and their new bottles! I feel so great hanging around the Rise team and that’s not just the kombucha talking, they are really kind people and fun, too! (special thanks to Abraham – you know why!) www.risekombucha.com/en

 

 

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Way Better chips are actually way better!! With their new flavours Sriracha and Mustard and Onion, their selection is now also way better than others. They use interesting ingredients like sprouted kale and many other sprouted ingredients which has to make this chip healthier than others! I like their Sweet Chili the best. www.gowaybetter.com
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The only coffee I’ve had is from Luna and Larry’s Cappuccino coconut ice cream, but now Tonica has launched a coffee kombucha that I had to try, and loved too! www.tonicakombucha.com

 

 

 

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Thank goodness there were organic buckwheat pillows in aisle 300 because after a few hours, an 8 second recharge was just what I needed!
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It’s always great to have Peter Neal show off what he has that’s new at the Neal Brothers Distribution booth. Their own brand of organic tortillas is my favourite of their products, especially the blue corn with flax. Great to see that he is distributing Kozlik’s mustard now and Date Lady – it means those good brands will soon be everywhere!

 

 

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Giddy Yoyo is known for making some of the best raw, nut-free, better than organic and fair-trade chocolate bars, but this new product really interested me – it’s wild blueberry powder! It’ll be great in smoothies when they aren’t in season! www.giddyyoyo.com

 

 

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Did you know that Quinoa was grown in Canada? I didn’t. Too bad this wasn’t organic – they said it was too expensive to do. Boo.

 

 

 

 

Trying to talk to Health Canada about the Field Roast Scandal in Canada - to no avail. Definitely not the most welcoming booth at the show!
Trying to talk to Health Canada about the Field Roast Scandal in Canada – to no avail. Definitely not the most welcoming booth at the show!
Jackfruit chips. Not organic, but sugar-free. My mom said that lots of vegan dishes in California use this now for things like tacos! Check out www.greendayschips.com.au
Jackfruit chips. Not organic, but sugar-free. My mom said that lots of vegan dishes in California use this now for things like tacos! Check out www.greendayschips.com.au
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ABOUT ME!
I started reviewing food on my blog at 8 years old. Now I have applied my passion for real food to public speaking, product demos, and convincing people to eat more organic hummus!
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I started reviewing food on my blog at 8 years old. Now I have applied my passion for real food to public speaking, product demos, and convincing people to eat more organic hummus!
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