FARE Idaho Feature: Snacktivist
Photos by Victoria Cooper
Snacktivist is a family operated company based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho creating simple to prepare, top-9 allergen-free baking mixes. A Certified Woman-Owned company operated by Joni (founder) her husband Roy, and close family friends, Snacktivist partners with farmers dedicated to bringing life back to their soil & biodiversity to their farms.
What was the inspiration for Snacktivist?
The original inspiration for Snacktivist foods began while I was working as a nurse in critical care and saw the effects that diet related disease was having on our health. I also had a family with food allergies so a calling to get to the root of these modern food related issues. With both parents working, young children with food allergies, we saw the need for easy to prepare, allergy-free foods made from nutritious ancient grains and legumes. We originally planned to make snacks and finished products, but being a young family without financial means to start a company, we settled on the line of baking mixes as a starting point.
I founded Snacktivist to help us redefine the nutritional integrity of our staple foods like grains, elevate underutilized crops like millets, sorghum and teff, communicate nutritional integrity and soil connected supply chains. The crops that we are focused on are all naturally gluten free, allergen free, highly nutritious and good for farmers. We believe that bringing back biodiversity to our staple foods like grains will have transformative effects on our health and on our soils. The average American gets over 50% of their calories from grains but most of those calories come from processed, starchy, industrially produced crops like corn, wheat and rice. We believe that this is driving the epidemic of diet related disease and that bringing back grain diversity to our staple foods is key to impacting public health and promoting regenerative transition in the field.
Which product are you most excited about and why?
I am most excited about our products that have not been launched yet to be honest, especially our oat, sorghum and millet “goodness grain” bowls. It is so delicious, a grab-and-go breakfast or anytime snack perfect for a healthy, modern lifestyle. Our first 3 flavors are Mocha Chocolate, Blueberry Chai and Matcha Vanilla.
For our baking mixes, my favorite is the Ivory Teff Waffle Mix that features Idaho grown teff from Teff Co because it is so quick, just add oil and water. It was so delicious!
Tell us a little more about your commitment to regenerative agriculture.
Snacktivist began innovating with ancient grains like sorghum, millet and teff because of their health benefits but soon discovered that they play a critical role in resilient food systems and regenerative farming. I had a long legacy of being involved in food systems work.
Sorghum, Millet and Teff are naturally drought tolerant crops and sorghum in particular, has incredible soil health properties. Proso millet is a very important crop for our regional farmers who are looking to eliminate summer fallow. Its short growing season and heat tolerance makes it a great fit for our NW regenerative systems. Regenerative agriculture needs biodiversity, for this to be viable at the farm level, we must have diversity on the plate that will drive markets for these biodiverse crops. This is why we are Snacktivists, we are “activating” the market to drive regenerative ag on the farm.
At Snacktivist, we believe in the “regenerative by design” principles that drive our innovation around regenerative crops. We spend a lot of time talking to farmers. We believe in building products that help to provide incentives for regenerative agriculture and reward them for adding diversity to their fields. We also believe that big changes happen when many people do small things everyday and this is the basis of the Snacktivist movement. Eating is an act of activism, make it count for the sake of your health, the sake of farmers and the sake of your planet!
