Snack Blog

Great and Mighty Greens has a mission. They want to bring healthy and delicious snacks to the world. In a tiny restaurant in Waialua, a settlement started by cane workers, Great and Mighty Greens manufacturers “Malina’s Spirulina Pops.” This is popcorn covered with spirulina, a powdered seaweed. The label features a dark haired surfer girl in a pink bikini. “This is quite possibly Malina,” I thought. There’s a hibiscus in her hair and she’s making that Hawaiian hand gesture with the thumb and pinky finger sticking out which means... it means something cool. Out of her pinky comes a dialogue bubble which tells us that these pops are a “Dairy free snack with a ‘cheesy’ taste.” Cheesy has its own quote marks to indicate, I believe, that there is really no cheese, just a cheesy taste produced miraculously by the combination of popcorn, macadamia nut oil, sea salt and spirulina.  We dropped in to Great and Mighty Greens Natural Kitchen and Cafe for a papaya smoothy on the recommendation of Chayla who lives down the street from Bart. She needed a ride to a garage in Waialua to pick up her car. She has a really nice place that seems to hang over the ocean and features three round houses. Her place is very noticeable if you are driving the Kam Highway and look up. Chayla has had it with the Bush Administration and is moving, probably to New Zealand where she will set up a foundation to teach young professionals how to make money while saving the environment. Chayla is always doing something interesting and knows and has known all manner of interesting people, like the Beattles for crap sake! Chayla said we ought to check out Great and Mighty Greens Natural Kitchen and Cafe (which is a subsidiary of Great and Mighty Greens) so we did and enjoyed the decor while we waited for our smoothies to come up. We enjoyed the picture frame decorated with sea shells and we enjoyed the tables that had surf magazine photos decoupaged onto the surface along with more sea shells embedded in some kind of acrylic substance. “I think we should make a table like this,” I told Linda. We like sea shells and if you have a problem with this you should be aware that sea shells are very “in.” In the new Coastal Living Magazine there’s a feature on an artist who has switched from painting to shells. So there. (We like to have a copy of Coastal Living around as it reminds people that we often live on a coast).
Behind the counter at the Great and Might Greens there was a giant white plastic bin, long and narrow, filled with freshly popped popcorn. The popcorn was then transferred to another bin. This one was round and turned by hand as spirulina, sea salt and mac oil was added. They bagged it right there and slapped the colorful label that in addition to the cartoon like drawing of the surfer girl I think was Malina, has some ocean, some plumeria blossoms, a seal of organic authenticity and a logo that shows stylistic waves breaking across the face of the sun. I wish you could see it. It’s a socially conscious company too. A portion, I don’t know how much, of the proceeds will benefit Save the Turtles International. It says this right on the label. The label also says at the bottom, “We love to hear from you—call us at 808-371-3463.” So, I encourage to give them a call.
Linda grabbed for a large bag of Malina’s Spirulina Pops with Macadamia Nut Oil. “Noble (our son and family lay dental expert) has warned you about eating popcorn,” I reminded her. All those crowns would be at risk. She put the big bag back and took a 1.5 oz bag and ate it all (carefully) and said it didn’t taste a bit cheesy.