It’s with a heavy heart that I’ve realized I need to cut the cord on some of my favorite companies. There are many I already avoid because of their deceptive packaging (Silk), CAFO-like practices (Horizon), or just simply because I don’t want to be putting money in the pockets of the major conventional junk food producers (Odwalla, Naked, Izze, Muir Glen, Santa Cruz). Now that the fight for GMO-labeling is on in California, however, I’ve learned that two of our household favorites have been acquired: Honest Tea and Larabars are no longer independent companies (and probably haven’t been for a while, if I think back to when plastic bottles became the packaging of choice). It’s one thing to be owned by a parent company, it’s another to have that parent company donate big bucks to fight a labeling law that “small organic” and most of their customer base support. No surprise that Monsanto is at the top of that list, nor that the “natural” products relying heavily on soy (which is almost certainly GMO unless certified organic) are also major opponents.

Lucky for the sprout, who is a date-and-nut bar junky, I already have a recipe on deck for making Lara-like bars. I’ll get right on that just as soon as I process the (literal) gallon of plum tomatoes on the kitchen counter. I need to go to the coop for more storage containers for said tomatoes (and whatever I make them into), so a quick trip to the bulk date-and-nut aisle and we should be golden.