Laura Gayle Donnelly is on a mission to  bring healthy snacking to the Port City.
 
Donnelly is the founder of Love This Popcorn, a popcorn prepared with fortified with nutritional yeast. Nutrition yeast is deactivated yeast that is sold in the form of flakes or powder and can be found in the bulk aisle of many natural food stores. High in B-complex vitamins, it is popular with vegans because of its nutty, cheese-like flavor, making it a good replacement for butter or cheese.
 
Donnelly, who has spent the bulk of her career in the restaurant industry, has been using nutritional yeast on popcorn for years, often experimenting with adding herbs and spices to come up with new flavor combinations. But it wasn’t until recently that she decided to take things to the next level.
 
“I love sharing food with friends and family, and this is something I’ve always felt good about sharing because it’s a healthy treat,” Donnelly said.
 
She said she felt she was recently at a crossroads professionally, and at the urging of friends who had tried her popcorn, she began researching what it would take to make her love of popcorn into a legitimate small business.
 
In addition to working out all the necessary permitting, Donnelly has been sampling her popcorn at local venues such at Burnt Mill Creek and Ted’s on the River.
 
Some of her most well received flavors so far have been The Pesto! with garlic and basil, Sweet Rosemary with chocolate and rosemary, No Dip About It with onion and dill and Ginger Twist with ginger and Vietnamese cinnamon and orange. She also makes The Friendly with just nutritional yeast as flavoring for those who prefer traditional popcorn.
 
Donnelly uses non-GMO, all organic white corn sourced from Nebraska as well as pink Himalayan salt, a naturally harvested salt from the Punjab region of Pakistan with a high mineral content to season the popcorn.
 
“It’s very important to me that every ingredient I use has integrity and benefits the body,” Donnelly said. “I know it’s just popcorn, but it can still be good for you.”
 
For more information on where to find Love This Popcorn click here.

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