Crunch Granola donates half its profits to fight hunger

Outta my mind on Thursday evening ... OK, I'll stop scamming from Bob Talbert, a heck of a columnist who would have been awesome at blogging had he lived in the digital age. 

I'm feeling nostalgic about a lot of things as I plan to go to Central Michigan University during Homecoming weekend. It may not be the best idea ever, going there Homecoming weekend for my first trip back in years, but the timing worked out. I already will be halfway there for a going-away party for Julie, a good friend and former coworker at The Catholic Weekly.

Even as I look back, I know that moving forward is the way to go.

I'm inching my way to a gluten-free, and, possibly down the road, a mostly Paleo/Primal lifestyle. Not because I've ever been diagnosed with Celiac disease, but because I feel it is a simple way to cut out the worst things I tend to eat fairly easily. I did the gluten-free thing for several months last year and earlier this year. Once you have some convenience products to rely on, it can be easy. But remember, even if it is gluten-free, that doesn't mean it's good for you. I speak from experience!

One of the things I miss when I am eating gluten-free is granola ... and, even though I was born at the height of the "flower child" movement, I am unlikely to make my own. It's not cheap, but I think I may try Crunch Granola, for these reasons: 

• It's gluten-free.
• The business is based in Wolverine Lake, not too far from my home.
• 50 percent of the profits are donated to Forgotten Harvest food bank or, if sold in Lansing, the Greater Lansing Area Food Bank.
• As of today, the number of donated meals financed through Crunch Granola sales is 39,234: not bad for a year's work! 

For more information about how this business got started, see this article by MSU Extension.