The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
b-side
Thursday, December 6, 2018 — 3B
The sweet tooth: society’s
colloquial term to describe
our sudden craving for sweets.
Yet, the term almost comes
with a hint of shame, as the
sweet tooth tends to hit us
hardest when we’re feeling a
little stressed, a little down or
maybe even just a little bored.
Especially as students, we all
relate to the sudden cravings
that come with long study
periods and academic/work
stress.
So what better solutions
do we have to this epidemic
desire for the processed and
carb-loaded?
Here
enters
GoNanas,
the
brainchild
of
School
of
Information
senior Annie Slabotski and
LSA senior Morgan Lerner.
GoNanas produces a variety of
banana breads, all gluten-free
(many vegan friendly as well)
that replace all the negative
ingredients
associated
with
baked desserts with the kind
of stuff that packs a much more
nutritious punch, all detailed
by Slabotski in an interview
with The Daily.
“All of our breads are made
from the exact same base.
Instead of using refined wheat
flour we use whole grain
gluten-free oat flour, which is
packed with fiber and a bunch
of nutrients that are wonderful
for you; and then instead of
butter or canola oil we use
coconut oil; instead of sour
cream we use coconut milk,”
Slabotski explained. “So every
quote-unquote bad ingredient
that you find within an average
banana bread we substitute for
something that is the better
version for you.”
But GoNanas hasn’t always
been supplying places like
Fred’s, Replenish and Literati
with their delicious breads.
Like
all
small
businesses,
Slabotski and Lerner started
out as freshman with a simple
goal in mind: “We’re really
driven by our mission in this
idea that we can bring healthy,
accessible food to busy college
kids that are on the go and
want to have a dessert but
don’t want to grab a donut or
a refined sugar-filled muffin.
So we want to give this treat —
especially to those people who
are vegan or gluten-free or
nut-free or dairy-free, we are
all allergen-free — and being
able to provide this healthy,
nutritious
dessert
is
what
inspires us,” Slabotski said.
Slabotski and Lerner met
as freshman year neighbors
in their dorm, and sharing
a common interest in food,
Slabotski asked her neighbor
if she wanted to go back
to
her
parents’
house
to
do some baking. And upon
mentioning that her family has
urged her to sell her banana
bread,
Lerner
responded
enthusiastically, and the rest
is history: “We went home, and
we took a mixture of the recipe
I knew from my mom and
some healthy recipes that we
found online and just started
experimenting.
We
pretty
much just threw something
together in a mixing bowl,
stuck it in the oven and burnt
the whole thing. I mean it was
charred. And we were like why
don’t we just cut off the top?
It’ll be super dry, but we can
try it. And it was so good, and
we thought, ‘If we can burn the
crap out of this thing and it still
tastes amazing, we really have
something.’ So we spent the
summer perfecting the recipe,
talking to people, making sure
they liked it, getting feedback
and then we had some help
developing the website and
were open for business the
next school year.”
What
is
most
appealing
about GoNanas is not only the
nutritional value of their work,
but also the variety they bring
to an otherwise standard treat,
with current flavors including
pumpkin and chocolate chip
— and with this variety brings
a sustainable edge to their
company. GoNanas works with
the seasons provide fresh new
flavors
to
their
customers
while keeping in mind how
they can make a positive
environmental
impact
with
their food.
“When
we’re
exploring
to find new flavors, we get
inspired by the season. So
right now we have pumpkin
because it’s fall, but we’re
transitioning into an apple-
cinnamon
because
apples
are really well harvested in
the winter, and a lot of our
mission goes into food waste,”
Slabotski explained. “We get a
DOMINIC POLSINELLI
Senior Arts Editor
GoNanas: A new, health-
positive, innovative way
to satisfy a sweet craving
ARTIST
PROFILE
IN
SINGLE REVIEW: ‘MODEL HOMES’
I’ve been anxiously
awaiting the unlikely return
of David Bazan-helmed Pedro
The Lion since my youth
pastor played “Diamond Ring”
as the introduction to a lesson
at our fall kick-off retreat
my sophomore year of high
school.
For those unfamiliar with
Bazan’s work, as Pedro or
otherwise, the publication
Christ and Pop Culture might
have put it best when they
labeled him the “Patron Saint
of Skeptics and Doubters.”
Early in his career as Pedro,
Bazan found a serious
fan base among religious
communities, who presumably
just appreciated he was
talking about God at all. As
the albums kept coming (five
LPs in total between 1998 and
2004, with the addition of
Phoenix coming in January
of next year) Bazan’s lyrics
became more and more
cynical. Around that time, he
also expressed in interviews
that he had begun considering
himself agnostic and, as a
direct result, became a sort of
black sheep among those in
the Christian community who
were aware of his work.
Now, although Bazan
appears to be making a
conscious turn away from
explicitly religious themes,
he can’t quite seem to make a
clean break. “Model Homes,”
the second single from the
upcoming Phoenix, finds him
still hinting at the stifling
quality of the church. The
song opens with Bazan, as a
child, leaving church with his
parents, an image followed by
the reflection that “Sunday
afternoon felt like a tomb.”
Largely, though, “Model
Homes” expresses a wish for
newness. Over melancholy,
sun-soaked guitars, Bazan
blurs the line between past
and present, juxtaposing
images of “Shuffling our shoes
on brand new carpet / Freeze
tag with static electricity,”
with a desire to “Live with
someone else / Give them my
whole self.” What begins in
childhood makes a startling
jump to the present day,
while Bazan half-shouts, “I
wanna not be lonely,” in his
characteristically syrupy vocal
style. “When will the wait be
over?” he repeats twice at the
end of the song. For fans of
Pedro, the wait will be over
sooner than we know.
— Sean Lang, Daily Arts
Writer
REPUBLIC RECORDS
“Model Homes”
Pedro the Lion
Polyvinyl
COURTESY OF GONANAS
COURTESY OF GONANAS
COURTESY OF GONANAS
COURTESY OF GONANAS
lot of bananas from stores like
Replenish or small grocers who
have over ripe bananas that
they can’t sell. We’re hopeful
to do that with this potential
new flavor because a lot of
apples get bruised and then
are not able to be sold. Trying
to reduce that food waste as
well is something we try to
incorporate into our breads.”
With an eye on health and
sustainability,
GoNanas
is
the perfect one-two punch
of
a
delicious,
sustainable
snack without all the negative
effects of typical, dessert-like
foods. Starting with a family
recipe, Slabotski and Lerner
are pioneering what it means
to satisfy a sweet tooth in a
fast-paced,
health-conscious
society — especially one in a
huge college town. With an eye
at expanding their clientele
in the future, Slabotski also
reflected on the unique quality
of their bread.
“I think it’s just a really
unique product. I’ve never
seen an on-the-go treat like
that, and I think that we get
a call maybe once every two
weeks, once a month, from
someone
thanking
us
for
bringing a gluten-free treat,
or a vegan-treat, that’s not so
expensive, that’s healthy and
tastes good. So I think that
it’s super rewarding to do
something that you believe in.
And I think that’s why we’ve
done it for so long, and why we
want to continue doing it.”
Next time you’re in a mild
state of panic reviewing your
organic chemistry notes or
slamming out a paper on
the role of carriages in Jane
Austen, think about grabbing a
slice of GoNanas bread before
running to Walgreens for a
candy bar — your body and
mind will definitely thank you
for it.
Yet, the term
almost comes
with a hint of
shame, as the
sweet tooth tends
to hit us hardest
when we’re
feeling a little
stressed, a little
down or maybe
even a little bored.
“...Being able
to provide this
healthy, nutritious
dessert is what
inspires us... ”
“So I think
that it’s super
rewarding to do
something that
you believe in.
And I think that’s
why we’ve done it
for so long, and we
want to contiue
doing it.”