Qu'est-ce que c'est le "Bellybar"?! Got a hankering for dill pickles and peanut butter? Or does the mere scent of a saltine send you running for the door? Well hold on to your breast pump, help has arrived... in the form of a Bellybar.

This musing is as much about life after Silicon Valley as it is about food. Two former co-workers of mine at a Very Large Software Company heard the cry. From friends to family to focus groups, women were craving something nutritious and delicious so Leslie and Meredith, co-Belly bosses, set out to create the perfect nutrition bar for women before, during and after pregnancy -- a bar that was jampacked with the vitamins, minerals and omegas needed to nourish both mother and baby -- and aptly named it the Bellybar.

With flavors such as Berry Nutty Cravings, Mellow Oat, and Baby Needs Chocolate (now we're talking!), every craving is covered. They are chewy, similar to a Clif bar, one of my favorites, and surprisingly tasty. The two Belly babes consulted nutritionists, chefs, doctors, nurses, dietitians, medical institutes, and many many women and the result is a snack bar that hits all the right notes.

I love it because it is made by women, for women. The Belly board talked with literally hundreds of women asking them what they wanted rather than telling them what they needed, a practice rampant in Silicon Valley that always boggled my mind like when the development team built an event management application without talking to anyone on the, oh I don’t know, events team! But I digress...



Thanks to their business school training and corporate savvy along with an abundance of ingenuity, smarts and elbow grease, these bars are literally flying off the shelves. You can find these fabulous Bellybars all around the Bay Area, throughout the west coast in Whole Foods Markets, and on the internet.

So rather than spending nine months grabbing for the cheetos and ice cream, belly up to a Bellybar. Since I am just a few croissants short of looking pregnant, I might have to buy a case or two of these for myself.