On Saturday, after swim practice, I headed out to an event I'd been meaning to go to for the past 5 years. The Hoe's Down Festival at Full Belly Farm. It was the 19th annual harvest celebration of sustainable agriculture and rural living in the nearby Capay Valley. The organic veggie box we get delvered to the office comes from River Dog Farm, another Yolo County farm just 6 miles down the road. A horse-drawn wagon shuttled me and Thao in from the parking area. Amy, Cassie and a small Clif Bar crew volunteered at the ice cream booth. I…

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The American Dietetic Association (ADA) released their position on biotechnology this year. Like a defense lawyer with the plaintiff on the stand, they brought the hammer down. By the power vested in the ADA, they hear by declared biotechnology safe, and asked that dietitians everywhere follow the dictatorship doctrine and spread the news like wild fire. Yikes! Hold up! Safe? Genetic engineering has only been tested on rats. Fewer pesticides sprayed? Hardly, since sales of one of the most toxic pesticides out there have increased for soy bean application. Potential to lessen nutrient deficiencies? How, when it destroys nutrient diversity,…

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This morning I was preparing for an interview with a reporter at the San Diego Union. In doing my research, I took a look at some of our competitors. As I perused various ingredient lists, it became clear to me that maltitol syrup & sucralose are popular ways to artificially sweeten many products out there—not something you're gonna find in CLIF or LUNA. Why do they add artificial sweetener you ask? Well, to lower the sugar grams in the bar and appear more nutritionally sound than, say, a LUNA Bar, which contains a mere 8-11 gram of real, all-natural sugar. Did…

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Glycemic index (GI) seems to be all the rage again! Will it be the next Atkins? Maybe the next big diet phenom? Doubtful. GI's been around for years and it just keeps coming back. People who are gung-ho about following the glycemic index eating plan believe that all their foods must fall in the low category. But really, there's a time and a place for low, medium and high glycemic foods—a bit of a confusing concept. The good news is that when people glom onto GI, they begin eating all sorts of nutritious foods associated with a GI-based eating plan—a…

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Glycemic index (GI) seems to be all the rage again! Will it be the next Atkins? Maybe the next big diet phenom? Doubtful. GI's been around for years and it just keeps coming back. People who are gung-ho about following the glycemic index eating plan believe that all their foods must fall in the low category. But really, there's a time and a place for low, medium and high glycemic foods—a bit of a confusing concept. The good news is that when people glom onto GI, they begin eating all sorts of nutritious foods associated with a GI-based eating plan-a…

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