Last week, I was privileged to host a giveaway from one of my sponsors for three $50 Gift Certificates to Jovial Foods. These certificates are good for anything in Jovial’s store — including their gluten-free pastas and cookies, their BPA-free organic tomatoes, and their einkorn pastas, cookies, and flour. Today, I’m announcing the winners.
For those of you who didn’t win, I’m sharing something almost equally as impressive — a coupon good for 15% off your purchase AND free shipping!
First, the winners!
Congratulations go to:
Amy Martin
Karin Jones
Leah Rollins
Way to go, ladies! I hope you enjoy your gift certificates. You will receive them shortly at the email address you provided to enter the giveaway.
Second, the coupon!
Click on the link below to redeem your coupon.
(If you can’t see the above link, it’s because you have javascript disabled or are using an ad blocker. To see the link, simply re-enable javascript or deactivate your ad blocker for this page.)
ENJOY!
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With all due respect (and devotion to this blog) these coupon/giveaway posts feel very “sponsored”. Obviously you’re in touch with the marketing departments of these companies and I can’t imagine they don’t offer you something for the adspace. I understand you putting ads on your website to get some rightly deserved revenue, but when they’re incorporated into posts… It think it hurts your credibility as an unbiased spreader of Real Food truth. I also think it’s a little in conflict with the Real Food spirit to be promoting processed cookies – even if they are made with einkorn.
Hmm. I think I’ve made it pretty clear on all my posts that Jovial is a sponsor. Plus I’ve got a disclosure statement linked to at the bottom of every page on this site just to make sure I’m complying with FTC rules.
That said, I do not accept ANY sponsors whose products I can not wholeheartedly endorse! I am, quite frankly, honored to let my readers know about my sponsors. I view it as one of the many missions of this site — to connect my readers with quality food.
And what’s wrong with einkorn cookies? I adore einkorn cookies! They’re one of the few convenience foods I’m happy to support because they’re made with eggs from pastured hens, real butter from cows not raised with growth hormones, organic sugar, and einkorn flour. Honestly, I don’t think I’d make a better cookie in my own kitchen (except possibly for the butter, as I’m pretty strict about making sure my butter comes from pasture-raised cows).
Anyhow, you’re free to think that einkorn cookies aren’t real food. No one’s twisting your arm to buy them. I’m just passing on my own excitement because I believe in supporting people like the folks at Jovial — people who are innovative enough to bring quality food to the marketplace.
And while internet purchases don’t fit into the “local” message, they’re also quite necessary for folks who live in real food deserts (a very real problem for a huge number of my readers!)
So while I’ll always recommend people opt for local first, I’m also happy to give them alternatives if they can’t find many of these quality foods locally.
One of my core beliefs for making this real food lifestyle manageable and stress-free is to not let the ideal be the enemy of the good. That means I’ll always lay out what’s ideal, but I’ll also be honest about good alternatives for those with limited budgets, time, or local resources.
Make sense?
And finally, never begrudge a blogger her sponsors! This is my full-time job, my household’s sole income. I also employ three part-time assistants just to keep everything running smoothly. Should I not get paid for the work I do? Should I not earn enough to cover the costs of employees, server & database maintenance, etc.?
My site gets more page views per month than most magazines have in yearly subscriber circulations. If these sponsors will pay for ads in magazines, why shouldn’t they pay for ads on my site?
Also, I do the vast majority of all this work just to provide readers like you with FREE content! So, are you really going to begrudge me the few giveaways that I host that I actually get paid for? Or begrudge me the ads that pay for this site?
I’m not trying to be confrontational here, and I by no means wish to criticize you. You are entitled to your opinions and free to voice your criticisms. But I will say this: if you seriously dislike seeing sponsored giveaways, then Food Renegade is not the blog for you. I try to host at least one of these per month, so that will grate on your sensibilities quite quickly.
Wishing you all the best,
~Kristen
First off, I really appreciate you replying to my objections, when a critical post can just as easily be deleted. You make a lot of good points and, ultimately, I think I just got the wrong impression of your goals in this blog. Well done for making a campaign for real food and supporting a whole family on it, that’s no small feat! I’d continue the debate, as I do still feel there’s something to be said about these cookies being featured, but it seems your readers are less accepting of debate than you are, so in future I’ll send my comments to you privately! Thanks again. (And still reading…!)
I really appreciate these coupon/giveaway posts. If it weren’t for these types of posts by real foodies, I wouldn’t know about these products. In addition, I don’t live anywhere close to markets with good food offerings. I only live close to modern grocery stores. Finding out about these products and websites and being able to order them has greatly enhanced the quality of our food and life. I also know that real food bloggers would not promote a product that they would not use themselves. Please keep the coupons/giveaways and information coming. I can’t even believe that someone would complain about this. Don’t like it, don’t read it. Why do people feel they have the right to editorialize and change a blogger’s posts?
For some reason I tend to think that internet complainers are probably youngish people. Their comments tend to sound like they are hopped up on the newness of having their voices heard. A soap box where no one can know who you are is just too delicious to pass up. And complaints get more attention. I know this is a blanket statement, and is surely erroneous, but that how these people come off to me. It’s just an idea I’ve been tossing around. I have begun to realize that we all see peers when reading comments. But some of these commenters could be 14 years old for all we know. That’s not old enough to understand things like value and economics.
Isnt einkorn wheat only grown in italy?
i hope they make it cheaper and grow it in canada and us, bread is not supposed to be expensive, its simple to make
I did the shop at home coupons and there is nothing for jovial pasta, whats the deal? thanks