Granola is a breakfast food and snack food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey and sometimes rice, which is baked until crispy. Breakfast is the first meal of the day The word derives from the idea of break ing the '''fast''' of sleep A snack food (commonly called a snack) is seen in Western culture as a type of food not meant to be eaten as a main Meal of the day – Breakfast Rolled oats are traditionally oat Groats that have been rolled into flat flakes under heavy rollers Nut is a general term for the large dry oily Seeds or Fruit of some Plants. Honey is a sweet and Viscous fluid produced by Honey bees (and some other species and derived from the nectar of Flowers According to the During the baking process the mixture is stirred to maintain a loose, breakfast cereal type consistency. Dried fruit, particularly raisins or dates, are sometimes also added. Dried fruit is fruit that has been dried, either naturally or through use of a machine such as a Food dehydrator. Raisins are dried Grapes They are produced in many regions of the world such as the United States, Australia, Chile, The Date Palm ( Phoenix dactylifera) is a palm in the genus Phoenix, extensively cultivated for its edible Fruit.

A bowl of granola

Besides being a breakfast food and snack food, granola is often eaten when hiking or camping because it is lightweight, high in energy, and easy to store; these properties are similar to trail mix. Breakfast is the first meal of the day The word derives from the idea of break ing the '''fast''' of sleep A snack food (commonly called a snack) is seen in Western culture as a type of food not meant to be eaten as a main Meal of the day – Breakfast The word 'hiking' is understood in all English-speaking countries but there are differences in usage Definition Camping describes a range of activities Survivalist campers set off with little more than their boots whereas Recreational vehicle travelers arrive equipped Trail mix or gorp is a Snack food commonly consumed during outdoor recreational activities such as Hiking, backpacking, Mountaineering

Granola is often eaten in combination with yogurt, manuka honey, strawberries, bananas, or other cereal. Yoghurt, yogurt, yoghourt, youghurt or yogourt (see spelling below is a Monofloral honey is a type of Honey which has a high value in the Marketplace because it has a distinctive flavor or other attribute due to its being predominantly Garden strawberries are a common variety of strawberry cultivated worldwide For the fruit see Banana. For other meanings see Banana (disambiguation. It can also be used as a topping in pastries and desserts.

Granula

The names Granula, Granola and Ganolietta were trademarks in the late nineteenth century United States for foods consisting of whole grain products crumbled and baked until crispy; compare the contemporary Swiss invention, muesli. A trademark or trade mark, represented by the symbols ™ and ®, or mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Whole grains are cereal grains that Bran and germ as well as the Endosperm, in contrast to Refined grains, which retain only Muesli is a popular Breakfast cereal based on uncooked Rolled oats, fruit and nuts The name is no longer trademarked except in Australia where it is by the Australian Health & Nutrition Association Ltd. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. 's Sanitarium Health Food Company. The Sanitarium Health Food Company is a food company in Australia and New Zealand that produces a large range of breakfast cereals as well as a range

Granula was invented in Dansville, New York, by Dr. Granula was the first manufactured Breakfast cereal invented by James Caleb Jackson in 1863. James Caleb Jackson at the Jackson Sanitarium in 1863. James Caleb Jackson ( March 28, 1811 - 1895 was the inventor of the first dry Whole grain Breakfast cereal which he called Granula The Jackson Sanitarium was a prominent health spa that operated into the early twentieth century on the hillside overlooking Dansville. It was also known as Our Home on the Hillside and so the company formed to sell his cereal was known as the Our Home Granula Company. Granula was made of Graham flour and similar to oversized Grape-Nuts. Graham flour is a type of Whole wheat flour named after the American Presbyterian minister Rev Grape-Nuts is a Breakfast cereal developed by C W Post in 1897

A similar cereal was developed by the Seventh-day Adventist doctor John Harvey Kellogg. The Seventh-day Adventist (abbreviated " Adventist " Church is a Christian denomination which is distinguished mainly by its observance John Harvey Kellogg ( February 26, 1852 &ndash December 14, 1943) was an American Medical doctor in Battle Creek It too was initially known as Granula, but the name was changed to Granola to avoid legal problems with Jackson.

Crunchy granola

The food and name were revived in the 1960s, and fruits and nuts were added to it to make it a health food popular with the hippie movement. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 The term Health food has been used in the United States since the 1920s to refer to specific foods claimed to be especially beneficial to Health. The Hippie Subculture was originally a Youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world Several people claim to have revived or re-invented granola then.

A major promoter was Layton Gentry, profiled in Time as "Johnny Granola-Seed"^[1]. In 1964, Gentry sold the rights to a granola recipe using oats, which he claimed to have invented himself, to Sovex Natural Foods for $3,000. The company was founded in 1953 in Holly, Michigan by the Hurlinger family to make a concentrated paste of brewers yeast and soy sauce named Sovex. Holly is a village in Oakland County in the US state of Michigan. Earlier in 1964, it had been bought by John Goodbrad and moved to Collegedale, Tennessee. Collegedale is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. In 1967, Gentry bought back the rights for west of the Rockies for $1,500 and then sold the West Coast rights to Wayne Schlotthauer of Lassen Foods in Chico, California for $18,000^[2]. Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a Mountain range in western North America. Chico (pop 86949 is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States, with 105000 Lassen was founded from a health food bakery run by Schlotthauer's father-in-law^[3]. The Hurlingers, Goodbrads, and Schlotthauers were all Adventists and it is possible that Gentry was a lapsed Adventist who was familiar with the earlier granola.

Granola made a major appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Festival. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[4].

In 1972, Jim Matson, an executive at Pet Milk (later Pet Incorporated) of Saint Louis, Missouri, introduced Heartland Natural Cereal, the first major commercial granola^[5]. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. At almost the same time, Quaker introduced Quaker 100% Natural Granola. The Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. Within a year, Kellogg's introduced Country Morning and General Mills Nature Valley^[6]. Kellogg Company (often referred to as simply Kellogg or Kellogg's, or even more formally Kellogg's of Battle Creek) is an American multinational General Mills ( is a Fortune 500 Corporation, mainly concerned with Food products which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota

In 1974, McKee Baking (later McKee Foods), makers of Little Debbie snack cakes, purchased Sovex. McKee Foods Corporation is a privately held United States company headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee. In 1998, they also acquired the Heartland brand and moved its manufacturing to Collegedale. In 2004, Sovex's name was changed to Blue Planet Foods^[7][8][9].

After nearly 30 years of being characterized as a 'hippie' product, the granola category was revived in large part due to Bear Naked, now a subsidiary of Kellogg's. Bear Naked is a natural food company with some organic products that was founded in 2002 by Brendan Synnott and Kelly Flatley.

Granola bar

Close-up of a chewy granola bar showing the detail of their pressed shape

"Granola bars" were invented by Stanley Mason [1] [2]and have become popular as a snack. The granola bars are identical to normal granola except in their shape. Instead of a loose, breakfast cereal consistency, granola bars are pressed into a bar shape and baked into that shape. The result was a more convenient snack.

Another variety is the chewy granola bar. In this variety, the oats are not baked as long (or at all) for a chewy texture. Some question whether such a snack should be called granola at all; in fact, some manufacturers prefer cereal bar or snack bar.

"Granola" as slang

"Granola" is also used as a slang term (metonym) describing a person who is hippie-like, a modern bohemian, environmentalist, or leftist in outlook^[10]. In Rhetoric, metonymy (mɨˈtɒnɨmi is the use of a word for a concept or object associated with the concept/object originally denoted by the word The Hippie Subculture was originally a Youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world The term bohemian, of French origin was first used in the English language in the nineteenth century to describe the untraditional lifestyles of marginalized and impoverished Artists Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and Social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment. The protagonist of Neal Stephenson's Zodiac delights in the nickname "Granola James Bond". Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known primarily for his Science fiction works in the Postcyberpunk genre Zodiac An Eco-Thriller (1988 is Neal Stephenson 's second Novel, which tells the story of an Environmentalist, Sangamon Taylor uncovering It is also used to refer to cannabis. Cannabis ( Cán-na-bis) is a Genus of Flowering plants that includes three putative species Cannabis sativa subsp

The term "Granola" is occasionally used derisively by some political Conservatives to describe Liberals as being mostly "fruits, nuts and flakes". Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined Liberalism is a broad array of related ideas and theories of Government that consider individual Liberty to be the most important political goal

Granola can also refer to a style of dress which is independent of an individual's political or philosophical ideology. A Health Food store is sometimes refered to as a "Granola Factory".

See also

• Muesli
• Flapjack

Notes

1. ^ Time 1972
2. ^ Time 1972
3. ^ Klein 1978
4. ^ Woodstock and Granola, <http://www.woodstockpreservation.org/Granola1.htm>. Muesli is a popular Breakfast cereal based on uncooked Rolled oats, fruit and nuts For the seaweed commonly known as flapjack see Carpophyllum maschalocarpum. Retrieved on 16 December 2006 
5. ^ Klein 1978
6. ^ Bruce 1995 p. 244
7. ^ Blue Planet Foods, Inc. history, <http://www.blueplanetfoods.net/history.htm>. Retrieved on 16 December 2006 
8. ^ Heartland History, <http://www.heartlandbrands.com/AboutHeartland/History.htm>. Retrieved on 16 December 2006 
9. ^ McKee Foods Company History, <http://www.mckeefoods.com/About_us/Company_History>. Retrieved on 16 December 2006 
10. ^ Tom Dalzell & Terry Victor. The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, vol. 1. Routledge, London, 2006. p. 909. ISBN 10:0-415-25937-1

References

• “Johnny Granola-Seed”, Time, March 06, 1972, <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,910236,00.html> 
• Klein, Joe (February 23, 1978), “A Social History of Granola”, Rolling Stone (no. Joe Klein (born September 7, 1946) is a longtime Washington D 259): pp. 40-44 
• Bruce, Scott & Crawford, Bill (1995), Cerealizing America : The Unsweetened Story of American Breakfast Cereal, pp. 8, 21, 243-246