FOODS ALIVE

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Foods Alive is a family-owned and operated business that cares more about the quality of food and the effects of producing it on our planet than profiting for oneself. We sprouted to life in 2002 when the first seeds were sown by Ellen and Michael Moor, their son Matt and his wife Tammy. See how much we have grown over the years, check out our Timeline and Meet the Family.

How It All Began Ellen and Michael first encountered flax crackers while enjoying a raw food buffet at Creative Health Institute in Hodunk, Michigan. Michael fell in love with the raw cracker and this inspired Ellen to recreate it in her own kitchen. She began making flax crackers for her family and they loved them also! As Ellen continued making flax crackers, she let her creativity shine with new combinations of flavors. These raw crackers became such a hit with the family that they all agreed they must be shared with the world! So in the middle of 2002, Ellen, Michael, Matt, and Tammy launched Foods Alive and introduced the first Certified Organic Raw Golden Flax Crackers in 4 awesome flavors: Original, Maple & Cinnamon, Italian Zest, and Mexican Harvest. By using only the finest certified organic, vegan, kosher, and gluten-free ingredients, they created a simple healthy raw whole food that everyone could enjoy. They started offering their flax crackers to retailers and it did not take long for their delicious and healthy living food snacks to start flying off the shelves of health food stores around the country!

Today, Foods Alive offers their unique Raw Golden Flax Crackers in several wonderful flavors, produces a variety of raw Flax and Hemp-based Gourmet Oils and Super Dressings, and an extensive line of organic raw Super Foods (chia seeds, maca powder, goji berries, etc) to provide health-conscious consumers with a more diverse nutritional experience. A Little More In Detail Foods Alive sprouted to life in 2002. The seeds were sown by Ellen and Michael Moor, their son Matt and his wife Tammy. How they found the path to healthier foods took different routes, but have equally great journeys.

Here is how it all began: In 2002, Ellen and Michael visited the Creative Health Institute in Hodunk, Michigan. They were in search of answers to complex health questions, but what they found were simple answers and an amazing place. The Wheatgrass Place, as it's referred to by those who stay, is a natural health learning center that provides a natural program of body purification, nutrition and rejuvenation through the use of fresh, organic, raw fruits, vegetables, juices, nuts, and seeds. Every Sunday the Wheatgrass Place has a free buffet full of wonderful raw food creations, and Michael and Ellen enjoyed some wonderful flaxseed crackers on their visit. Michael started asking for these Flax Crackers at local health food stores, but no one had ever heard of such a thing. So Ellen started making some flax crackers at home for her family and came up with several great flavors that everyone thought were amazing!

Around this same time, Matt and Tammy had a beautiful little girl. They thought they were doing a great job of providing a healthy diet for their child, but she was always spitting up, and not just a little, she would ruin her outfit and the outfit of whoever was holding her. They began researching on the internet to figure out why, and after much searching and self-educating, realized that she was lactose intolerant and their diet was not as healthy as they thought. They began removing milk, butter, and other highly processed artificial foods from their diet; and their daughter's symptoms stopped! This began their journey away from the SAD (Standard American Diet) and into the wonderful world of organic natural foods. Ellen, Michael, Matt, and Tammy all agreed that the flax crackers Ellen was making were just too good to keep to themselves. So they started Foods Alive, a small family business that cares deeply about what is in the food they and their families are eating. In 2002, Foods Alive introduced the first in its line of dehydrated Certified Organic Golden Flax Crackers with 4 flavors: Original, Maple & Cinnamon, Italian Zest, and Mexican Harvest. Using the finest certified organic, vegan, kosher, and gluten-free ingredients, they created a simple healthy whole food that everyone could enjoy. They began sampling their flax crackers out to health food stores and it did not take long for the phone to start ringing with orders! In 2004 they expanded their line with Onion Garlic and Carob Mint, in late 2005 they introduced Hemp and BBQ, and in 2007 they added Mustard. With a full array of flavors to choose from, customers from as far as Alaska and Hawaii were calling for their delicious and healthy living food snacks!

Everyone at Foods Alive felt that the golden flaxseed they were using in their flax crackers had a superior taste to the brown flaxseed that was already on the market, and shortly after trying a delicious flax oil dressing that Tammy was making, Michael said, "This is amazing! I can't even tell it's flax oil! We should start making this for everyone!" So in early 2006, Foods Alive began cold-pressing its own golden flax oil in small batches. They started experimenting with different combinations of spices and herbs blended into the golden flax oil to create the first Organic Gourmet Golden Flax Oil Dressings: Mike's Special (with garlic and paprika) and Sweet Mustard (with Agave and Mustard) to go along with our rich and buttery-tasting High Lignan (100% Pure Golden Flax oil). Soon, Foods Alive's golden flax oil dressings were spreading across the country and changing the flax oil market from a boring supplement into a delicious dining experience. Finally, there was a healthy salad dressing on the shelf and everyone could enjoying getting their daily dose of flax oil!