Soda

Pepsi Throwback – natural sugar not corn syrup

Rating:
Hippy level:

Oh man when I saw Pepsi Throwback I was in heaven. Pepsi has always been my life-blood, however when I started worrying about additives and especially corn syrup I started to feel guilty every time I had one. My only alternative was to go with cane sugar based sodas made by companies like Jones, Hansan’s and Santa Cruz Organics. Although these are tasty not a single one I’ve found has caffeine in it, which is the primary reason I drink soda in the first place.

Pepsi Throwback to the rescue! I’m absolutely in love with Pepsi Throwback, it’s really delicious and doesn’t have that thick sticky feeling associated with corn syrup. Best of all it has caffeine GLORIOUS CAFFEINE!

And Mountain Dew Throwback is really good too. Only problem is they are out for a limited time only! We have to tell Pepsi to keep this one around, it’s the best.

Jones Green Apple – tasty alternative with pure cane sugar

Rating:
Hippy level:

Jones Green Apple is really good, it’s like drinking green Jolly Ranchers. Best of all it’s made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup.

As an added bonus the photos on Jones’ labels are all customer submitted and pretty hilarious. And their slogan is “I’m Jonesin’ for a Jones” so you know they are fairly hippy.

Hot Pockets, Burritos, etc.

Trader Joe’s Stromboli – Hot Pocket + Poppy Seeds

Rating:
Hippy level:

This is basically a hot pocket with poppy seeds on top. Somehow Trader Joe’s has tricked me into thinking is somewhat good for me, even though it is still ultimately just a Hot Pocket.

Trader Joe’s really has my demographic pinned. They make seemingly natural, earth conscious products that are not necessarily entirely earth-friendly. For instance TJ’s chicken touts how it is rBST free, and then in small print says “Chicken is required by US law to be rBST free”.

Trader Joe’s Chicken Chile Verde Burritos

Rating:
Hippy level:

Trader Joe’s takes it again in the hot pockets / burritos category. They just have really good fake hippy frozen food.

These Chicken Verde Burritos are really delicious for freezer food, and are made with that delicious green tomatillo salsa (hence the ‘verde’). Necesito Burrito!

Chocolate Milk

Alpenrose – rBST Free, Swedish style

Rating:
Hippy level:

When it comes to chocolate milk, Alpenrose is by far the best. It’s swedish style which means it’s super thick and creamy, and made with whole milk to ensure its completely loaded with fatty goodness.

Unfortunately it’s only available in the Northwest United States.

Organic Valley – Certified Organic

Rating:
Hippy level:

I’ve seen this one all over the US and it’s a pretty good chocolate milk, thick and creamy. Plus Organic Valley has the advantage that it is fully certified organic (which of course includes being rBST free). However it is nothing compared to Alpenrose .

Frozen Waffles

Nature’s Path Buckwheat Waffles – Gluten Free

Rating:
Hippy level:

Nature’s Path Buckwheat Waffles are the best of both worlds: really tasty and also pretty healthy. They are gluten free which a friend of mine swears by. And although I eat a ton of things with gluten in them, when I eat these I feel somehow healthier. Perhaps its all psychological, but at the very least I know these waffles are really delicious.

Fast Food

Burgerville – Local and sustainable fast food

Rating:
Hippy level:

While only located in the Northwest US, Burgerville is an excellent fast food joint that at least claims to be “sustainable”. The food is definitely still fast food—greasy, heavy and by no means healthy, but it’s delicious and Burgerville has some pretty good practices. For instance they stopped serving their Salmon salad because they couldn’t find a sustainable fishery. Of course they were the ones telling me about this, and who knows maybe the salmon salad wasn’t selling so well and they decided they could turn a negative into a positive.

Taco Del Mar – pretty good burritos

Rating:
Hippy level:

Taco Del Mar makes fairly natural burritos that are actually really good for a fast food place. It has the Subway setup where they make your burrito to order, except unlike Subway it isn’t disgusting or made with radioactive bread.

In N Out Burger – King of all fast food

Rating:
Hippy level:

Ah In N Out Burger, why oh why are you only in California/Nevada? Please please please come up to Portland.

In N Out Burger is by far the very best fast food restaurant, and I make a point to hit it up every time I’m in California. Best of all, the reason their food is so good is because it is fairly natural. You can watch them slicing whole potatoes for the fries, which taste amazing because they are fresh and natural. They don’t use any freezers, so all the meat is fresh. In terms of earth-friendliness, they use a lot of packaging like all fast-food places, but they use all paper at least.

And it should also be said that In N Out Burger has had these practices ever since it was founded in 1948. Of course they told me this, so they are doing at least a bit of green-washing .