Grocery Outlet Ethical Bargains

I picked up some Lesser Evil Sun Poppers at the Grocery Outlet last week (they’re a bit like vegan cheese puffs, $2.50 per bag) and decided, after trying them out, to look into the company. Lesser Evil is a Connecticut-based snack food company that has evolved over its two decades of existence, with ingredients becoming healthier and more sustainable. I haven’t written a post about a snack food for quite a while – in part because I felt that it was more important to focus on staples, but also because I haven’t tried any snacks that I felt compelled to write about. Lesser Evil is interesting in that it competes with the addictive but unhealthy snacks that you’ll find at your local 7-11 store by making versions that are better for you and the planet.

I thought that the Sun Poppers – especially the vegan nacho flavor – were quite good as a replacement for cheese puffs, with a satisfyingly large number of them per bag.* They were enjoyable to eat and less guilt inducing on both health (they’re air-puffed!) and sustainability (they’re organic!) fronts. More in the nutrition and ingredients section, below.

*My research on Lesser Evil led me in many directions, including a SubReddit called Volume Eating (Maximum food for minimum calories). It’s official: Reddit now covers every topic under the sun!

I’m planning to try our more Lesser Evil products now that I’ve done some research and see how often they are recommended on esteemed sites like The Kitchn and Food & Wine. Lesser Evil hasn’t been on my radar because they are most known for popcorn and I’m quite happy to pop my own popcorn at home (having said that, Lesser Evil does sell kernels for home-popping, too). That brings up a question – with all the issues in the world (climate, plastic pollution, etc.) do we even deserve to have packaged snacks?

Do we deserve to have snacks?

Here’s an optimistic synopsis: If we’re doing the big things to reduce your carbon and waste footprints then an occasional packaged snack is a small deal in comparison.

Here’s a more pessimistic view: Unfortunately, most people are not doing these big things (plant-based diet, avoid waste, minimize fossil fuel use, etc.) and they eat way too much packaged, processed food.

Well, let’s stick with the optimistic view for now, because you probably try to do all the big things, dear reader. You read this blog because you want to try to support ethical brands, so you probably deserve a snack, now and then. Here’s how I usually look at the pros and cons to find a balanced approach:

Snacks typically don’t require refrigeration and have a long shelf life, reducing energy costs and waste (also, most refrigerants are potent greenhouse gases).

Yes, snacks are usually packaged in plastic bags that end up in landfills, but I recommend simply setting a budget for how much landfill waste you generate each month and then do what you want within that budget. My waste budget is a bag about the size of a loaf of bread per month, and I find that, even though this is a lot less than average trash generation in the Global North, it’s actually a very achievable target. A few snack bags per month don’t amount to a lot of waste in the big scheme of things.

I seek out snacks that are nutritious, and sometimes calorie-dense, in order to justify the packaging footprint – a slightly different strategy to that on the Volume Eating SubReddit (but there is some overlap as neither of us are looking for a zillion fat calories).

Lesser Evil, Sun Poppers – Ingredients and Nutritional Info

I’ll just highlight the Vegan Nacho Cheese flavor but all three have a similar nutritional composition and only differ in the spices used (with the Himalayan Salt being the simplest).

Sun Poppers, Vegan Nacho Cheese – Ingredients: Organic Cassava Flour, Organic Avocado Oil, Organic Protein Blend (Organic Watermelon Protein, Organic Pumpkin Protein Powder), Organic Vegan Nacho Seasoning (Organic Tapioca Solids, Sea Salt, Organic Onion Powder, Organic Flavor, Organic Garlic Powder, Organic Tomato Powder, Organic Baker’s Yeast Extract, Organic Paprika, Organic Green Bell Pepper, Organic Spices, Organic Paprika Extract, Lactic Acid, Citric Acid, Organic Jalapeno Pepper Powder), Organic Tapioca Starch.

The list of ingredients is long but that’s because there are so many different components to the seasoning. Not a bad thing. The main ingredients for all three are varieties are basically cassava flour, avocado oil, protein blend, seasoning, and tapioca starch. All ingredients are organic, which ensures avoidance of pesticides on crops but also the avoidance of preservatives and other additives during processing.

I was happy to see that they are over 10% protein (so if you end up eating the entire bag, you’ll consume 12 grams of protein) and contain some fiber too. Moderate in fat and sodium for the snack world and Lesser Evil also avoids oils that are high in omega-6 fats (which I agree can be problematic when consumed in large amounts).

Ethical rating for Lesser Evil Snacks

I’m rating Lesser Evil 4.5/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact for these reasons:

• Most of the Lesser Evil products, including all varieties of Sun Poppers, are vegan. Adopting a plant-based diet is the top thing you can do to mitigate climate change, deforestation, animal cruelty, and food scarcity.
• Lesser Evil also uses organic ingredients for all products.
• The company avoids palm oil, instead using avocado or coconut oil for most products.
• Lesser Evil products are packaged in NEO packaging. These bags include an additive that accelerates microbial activity in landfills, helping to produce biogases that can be captured and used as an energy source. I’ll cover this topic in a Green Stars Project post as more information becomes available.   
• The company does a good job at communication on its website, explaining things like why organic popcorn is better, how its fundraising program works, or why they avoid oils that are rich in omega-6 fatty acids. Could do with a webpage or blog post on the company facilities and sustainability of the manufacturing process.

Summary scores (out of 5) for Lesser Evil Snacks (Sun Poppers):

4.5 gold stars for quality and value.

4.5 green stars for social and environmental impact

If you have a different opinion, please share your rating!

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