Eat and drink your way to a healthier 2021 with these small businesses

It hasn’t been easy to follow a heathy diet during 2020. Comfort food, working from home, Netflix binging, reduced income, restrictions on grocery store trips, and other impacts of the pandemic might all have taken their toll.

From nutritious snacks to healthier home cooking, these B.C. small businesses can help you improve your, and your local economy’s, health in 2021.

HEARTH, Victoria

HEARTH’s gluten-free, organic, and plant-based health bar in Victoria lets you choose from a menu of cold pressed juices, booster shots, smoothies, plant-based meals, and other healthy eats. Or you can order online. The Registered Nutritionists behind HEARTH also offer personalized juice cleanses, prepared meals, and nutritional counselling.

Kaslo Sourdough, Kaslo

Wheat-intolerant but love pasta? Kaslo Sourdough makes a variety of naturally-fermented sourdough pastas, including their Pasta Fermentata—the world’s first commercial sourdough pasta. Sourdough fermentation makes wheat-based foods easier to digest and healthier. Owners Silvio and Gabriele Lettrari immigrated from Germany, bringing with them the age-old process of fermentation they use to make their natural sourdough culture.

Planted Meals, Vancouver

If you want to eat healthier but don’t have the time to buy the ingredients and cook the dishes, Planted Meals is a vegan meal prep delivery service in Vancouver. They offer a rotating menu with dishes like Roasted Veggie Lasagna, Thai Red Curry, Pizza Wrap, and Peanut Butter Noodle Salad. Not only is the food kind on you, but the compostable or reusable packaging is good for the planet. Check out their blog for vegan recipes and tips for people considering veganism.

Nomad Nutrition, Burnaby

Looking for a healthy snack for your next backpacking or camping trip? Nomad Nutrition makes healthy, organic, plant-based dehydrated meals and fruit snacks for backpackers, hikers, climbers, paddlers, hunters, and anyone heading out to explore. Check out their new Chewy Banana Bites—ready-to-eat vegan banana bites packed with potassium, iron, and vitamins.

Recipes to the Rescue, Vancouver

If the daily “What’s for dinner?” conundrum is getting you down, Recipes to the Rescue are here to, well, rescue dinner. They offer online courses to help you better plan your meals and cook healthier food. Their weekly meal planner notepads could be just what you need to stop you reaching for the takeout menus so often.

Leap Proteins, Vancouver

Have you considered adding some crickets to your next meal? Seriously, hear us out. Cricket protein has more protein than beef, more calcium than milk, and more iron than spinach. It’s a whole food that delivers high nutrition with a sustainable, low carbon footprint. Leap Proteins sell protein seasonings made from crickets. Simply add them to salads, soups, and other dishes to boost your heathy protein intake. Cricket protein is Paleo, Keto, and Whole30 friendly.

These and other healthy businesses in the BC Marketplace can help you start 2021 the way you mean to continue.