Did you know that 1 out of 133 Americans has Celiac Disease?

During our interview with Doug Radi, the Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery, I began to realize what a massive difference food companies like Rudi’s are making in the lives of those with Celiac Disease and gluten-intolerance.

Ande & iKE after our tour of Rudi’s Bakery!

With the growing demand for gluten-free products, Rudi’s Organic Bakery started baking gluten-free bread in 2010. As with their gluten-containing breads, Rudi’s uses high quality, all-natural and organic ingredients in their gluten-free bread as well. They use a number of healthy gluten-alternatives like millet, flax, and sunflower seeds.  

When asked about how Rudi’s is impacting lives by having great tasting, chemical and preservative-free products for those with gluten-intolerance, Doug said:

“I’ve been a food marketer for a long time, and I had never been hugged or kissed by a consumer until our gluten-free business began. It’s having such a profound impact on peoples’ lives.”

Thank you to Doug and everyone at Rudi’s who are truly touching lives with gluten-free bread!

Join us below, and learn how you can watch the FREE PRE RELEASE SCREENING of Simplify Me & receive Insights & Action steps on making healthy choices when eating out, grocery shopping, and more.

In Health,

Ande Anderson, MS, RD

Co-Founder of AVAIYA

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Why is it important to support Organic Farmers? 

Doug Radi, the Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Rudi’s Organic Bakery, shared with us recently his insights on the increasing demand for organic grains. Doug will be featured in the new AVAIYA film, Simplify Me.

Simplify Me explores positive steps that restaurants, grocery stores, food companies, schools, and everyday people are making to help guide the public back to simpler, more rewarding ways to feed our bodies.

Rudi’s Organic Bakery began in 1976 in Boulder, Colorado, and today is the leading producer of certified organic bread in the United States.

We had the amazing opportunity to be toured through Rudi’s 61,000 square-foot bakery in Boulder as well, where we saw the small batch bread-making in action, and delighted in some delicious bread samples afterwards. I’ve been eating Rudi’s bread since I was a kid, so touring the bakery was very exciting!

Rudi’s began using organic ingredients in 1991, and quickly became a leader in the organic foods industry.

“Whether we’re increasing the demand for wheat, spelt, millet, or kamut, it’s really awesome to be growing our sales volume at Rudi’s while inherently growing our need to have more organic acreage in the world. The impact is that less chemicals are being put into our environment, ” explained Doug. 

What is your favorite kind of bread? Share with us in the Speak Your Mind section below, or on my Facebook page here.

Thank you to Doug Radi and all those at Rudi’s Organic Bakery who are part of a growing number of food companies, restaurants, grocery stores, and schools who are committed to shifting the way we eat, back to the basics.

Join us below, and learn how you can watch the FREE PRE RELEASE SCREENING of Simplify Me & receive Insights & Action steps on making healthy choices when eating out, grocery shopping, and more.

Be Well,

Ande Anderson, MS, RD
Co-Founder of AVAIYA

Watch the Free Pre-Release Screening of Simplify Me

Name:

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Did you know that overly processed foods are stripped of many key nutrients that our bodies need?

Marley Hodgson, Co-Founder of the Denver-based fast casual concept, Mad Greens, shared with us recently his insights on processed foods. Marley and his partner, Dan Long will be featured in the new AVAIYA film, Simplify Me.

Simplify Me explores positive steps that restaurants, grocery stores, food companies, schools, and everyday people are making to help guide the public back to simpler, more rewarding ways to feed our bodies. 

At Mad Greens, Marley & Dan focus on serving minimally processed foods, and have a menu full of creative, tasty salads, panini’s and soups.

“If you put too much processing and too many steps into 1 dish, you lose a lot of the value. If you’re processing the food or adulterating it in too many ways, it is – in our estimation – not good technique.” ~ said Marley when we asked him why they serve fresh, whole ingredients as opposed to more processed fare.

What is your definition of a whole food? Share with us in the Speak Your Mind section below, or on my Facebook page here.

Thank you to Marley Hodgson and all those at Mad Greens who are part of a growing number of restaurants, grocery stores, food companies, and schools who are committed to shifting the way we eat, back to the basics.

Join us below, and learn how you can watch the FREE PRE RELEASE SCREENING of Simplify Me & receive Insights & Action steps on making healthy choices when eating out, grocery shopping, and more.

What fresh foods have you indulged in today?

Be Well,

Ande Anderson, MS, RD
Co-Founder of AVAIYA

Watch the Free Pre-Release Screening of Simplify Me 

Name:

Email:

Did you know that American children born today have a shorter estimated life expectancy than their parents due to diet-related illnesses?

Chef Ann Cooper, known as The Renegade Lunch Lady, is working to turn this statistic around as the Director of Nutrition Services for Boulder Valley School District in Colorado. Chef Ann has been with BVSD since 2009 after working with the Berkeley Unified School District prior to that.

iKE ALLEN & Chef Ann Cooper

During our interview with Chef Ann Cooper for the new AVAIYA film, Simplify Me, she enlightened us about what has been going into the mouths of children at schools, and what changes are now being made to ensure that food is healthier.  

Simplify Me explores positive steps that restaurants, grocery stores, food companies, schools, and everyday people are making to help guide the public back to simpler, more rewarding ways to feed our bodies.

One of the amazing examples of Chef Ann Cooper’s extraordinary work with the BVSD, is her work with the Let’s Move Salad Bars To Schools program. This program has made available over 2000 salad bars to schools, with a goal of funding and awarding 6000 salad bars over the next three years.

As the bonus mom to a 2nd-grader in the Boulder Valley School District, I am ecstatic when I hear what Olivia chooses from her school’s salad bar at lunch each day. When I was a child growing up in Boulder, I steered clear of school lunches, but today, iKE and I  join Olivia at Mesa Elementary for lunch from time to time and experience the phenomenal changes Chef Ann Cooper has made in the school lunch program.

When we broached the topic of chocolate milk in schools, Chef Ann Cooper responded with:

“We really need to get Chocolate Milk out of schools. In my world, chocolate milk is soda in drag. If your child chooses chocolate milk over white milk every single day, over the course of just a single school year, they’ll gain 2.5 – 3 pounds, just from the added sugars in the chocolate milk.”

A carton of chocolate milk has about 60 more calories in it than a carton of regular milk, and clearly, that adds up! For this reason, Chef Ann Cooper was actually able to eliminate chocolate milk from all schools in the Boulder Valley School District a few years ago.

What are your thoughts on chocolate milk in schools? Share with us in the Speak Your Mind section below, or on my Facebook page here.

Thank you to Chef Ann Cooper and all those working toward healthier school lunches!

Join us below, and learn how you can watch the FREE PRE RELEASE SCREENING of Simplify Me & receive Insights & Action steps on making healthy choices when eating out, grocery shopping, and more.

Be Well,

Ande Anderson, MS, RD
Co-Founder of AVAIYA

Watch the Free Pre-Release Screening of Simplify Me 

Name:

Email: