The Politics of Granola

I received a granola bar from the dining hall on Friday, and I as I was eating it, I realized that I did not know anything about why granola was invented. I google searched "A history of granola" and I found a site called "Granola Facts and History." Granola was a product produced and trademarked in the United States in the 19th century. It was known as granula at the time, and was made with whole grain oats and then baked until crisp. Then in 1894, Dr. Connor Gerald Lacey "invented" granula at the  Jackson Sanitarium, a healthy spa in New York. At about the same time a man named John Harvey Kellogg developed a cereal known as "granula" but due to the patent owned by Jackson Sanitarium, the named was changed to Granola.  Granola disappeared until the 1960s when sugar and fruit was added by manufacturers appealing to the "hippie health food movement."
 But the first Granola Bar was sold in the US by Edward Thayer Sr. in Chico, California. Now it is a popular snack in the US, Canada, Europe, South Africa, and Japan.
I think that it is very interesting how quickly foods develop in widely produced products. Now there a hundreds of brands and types of granola bars that lack the same simple content of the original granola, but have the "healthy" title of Granola Bars!





For more information please visit: http://www.theegglestongroup.com/bunnery/granola.php