Cookies Reduce Food Waste

Photo: SOULMUCH

When your holiday cookies are healthy, delicious and sustainable, you’re probably eating SOULMUCH. The San Diego-based cookie company focuses on reducing food waste by upcycling excess ingredients and sourcing sustainable, eco-friendly items to create a line of vegan, gluten-free, gourmet and protein cookie options. SOULMUCH cookies also come in biodegradable packaging.

Shop small this year and gift friends, family and yourself with a Holiday Cookie Box, available in petite (15 assorted cookies) and deluxe sizes (30 assorted cookies), for $29.95 and $49.95 respectively. All holiday boxes ship Dec. 18, unless otherwise stated in the notes when ordering.

The founders at SOULMUCH, all with backgrounds as servers in the restaurant industry, saw how much food waste there was at the end of the night and decided to do something about it by rescuing the fresh, unused ingredients. Restaurants generally oversupply ingredients to prevent shortage, including brown rice and quinoa, which can be dehydrated and milled into flour for cookies. The brand expanded to upcycling juice pulp from juicers, imperfect produce, almond pulp from an almond milk company and coffee grounds from local coffee shops. In just three years, SOULMUCH rescued more than 20,000 pounds of food.

Photo: SOULMUCH

Shop vegan and gluten-free varieties for your hard-to-shop-for friends and family, with flavors like chocolate chip, mint chocolate, chocolate espresso, red velvet beet and carrot ginger turmeric, all $24 for a six-pack. Trick the kids into indulging in fruits and vegetables, and enjoy a guilt-free treat for yourself. ‘Tis the season!

Photo: SOULMUCH