No Compromises

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Leading a wellness lifestyle and stocking a power pantry can get lonely. I know sometimes you may feel like you're the only one in your family, or at work, or in your neighborhood, who cares about what they eat or how physically active they are. Where I live in the northeast wellness isn't a given, and there are only pockets of folks who take on the extra responsibility to live in a healthful way. I get to experience that loneliness all the time...

It was on this backdrop that I read today that Panera Bread is going clean. As a national franchise with over 1,700 stores and 25,000 employees, they have a lot of market clout they can put behind initiatives. And they are choosing a path of 'No Compromises'. What do they mean by this? They are cleaning up their ingredients to remove all artificial preservatives, colors, sweeteners and flavors. Wow! 

Click HERE to link to the original web page

That sounds like a great power pantry conviction and destination, to remove high fructose corn syrup, sucralose and all its cousins (aspartame, etc.), all dyes and artificial flavors as well. 

And what they, and we, are left with is whole foods, and fresher foods, and the whol-er and fresher, the better.

So it's great to know that wellness choices are catching on, even in corporate segments like fast-casual dining (which is what Panera is). As these trends grow and become more commonplace, my hope is that more and more people will recognize the value and nutrient density of fresh, whole foods with out all of the additives.

Maybe today is your day to take a page from the likes of Panera, and start to purge your pantry of fake foods, and those that have artificial colors and sweeteners and flavors, and restock with local, fresh, healthier ingredients.

By the Way

The announcement of Panera removing all these artificial ingredients from their foods is actually about a year old. They have a big project ahead of them to get this message solidified and implemented, and they are right in the midst of their plan.We'll see how sales do in years hence... I suspect they'll be just fine...

To check out their "No No" list, click here.