For as long as I have been covering the organic food industry and giving out Natural Products Expo West awards, it has always been a Top 5 list.
However, due to the incredible number of fantastic products that I saw at the 2024 show and at the urging of my good friend Liana Werner-Gray, I have expanded the list to a Top 10.
For those of us who are fans of Dr. Bronner’s, the company’s products have a constant presence in our households, and we use them to clean our bodies and physical surroundings on a daily basis.
While this is unquestionably a critical component of our lives and imperative to maintain good health, cleaning transcends removing whatever is on our skin, on our clothes or on our kitchen countertops. It also affects our emotional well-being and directly impacts how we show up in the world.
For as long as I have been covering the organic food industry, I have attended Natural Products Expo East, with my first show in Boston in 2009.
So, it is very bittersweet to report that after last week’s show in Philadelphia, there will be no more Expo East moving forward. New Hope, the organizer of the event, has decided to launch something new in 2024 called Newtopia Now.
It seems like every day that passes, the USDA approves another very risky GMO crop, all to the benefit of biotech/chemical companies and to ZERO benefit for consumers.
This time, the USDA has approved a first-of-its-kind genetically-engineered (GE) apple that doesn’t turn brown after bruising or slicing.
The apple, developed by the company Okanagan Specialty Fruits, uses a relatively new form of genetic engineering called RNA interference, or gene silencing, which has raised numerous concerns from consumer groups, environmentalists, and the apple industry.
Why Tradin Organic is Prioritizing Regenerative Organic Farming
At Tradin Organic, we believe that regenerative organic farming is key to growing healthy and nutritious food ingredients — for now and for future generations.
And in Sierra Leone, we have grown the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified cacao.
When you are in the checkout line at the supermarket and looking for a nutritious snack to satiate your hunger, take caution when selecting an energy bar.
The energy or snack bar market is big business — a $9 billion industry — and many people are easily fooled by the slick marketing that food companies employ to get you to purchase their products.
The absolute first thing to look for is a certified organic snack bar — one that has the green and white USDA organic seal on it.
1) In its pioneering testing several years ago, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) identified up to 493 chemicals in Americans of all ages, including 287 industrial chemical pollutants found in the cord blood of 10 babies born in 2004.
So, from the time we are in the womb of our mother, our body is flooded with synthetic toxins.
2) Even though this EWG data was collected a decade ago, not much has changed since then, in terms of our exposure to chemicals.
(The brain trust of Christie & Co — from l. to r., Alissa Sears, vice president of strategy & navigation; Gillian Christie, founder/CEO)
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When people think of the pioneers in the natural products industry, the founders of iconic CPG brands often come to mind.
However, what cannot be forgotten is that a select number of very savvy people were working behind the scenes to popularize these companies, in the media and with consumers, through storytelling. And without them, the success of the organic food sector would not be where it is today.
One such individual is Gillian Christie, the founder/CEO of Christie & Co., a marketing and communications firm based in Santa Barbara, CA. Along with her daughter Alissa Sears, vice president of strategy & navigation, Gillian leads this full-service agency, which has just celebrated its 30th anniversary.
Last weekend, I had the special opportunity to interview Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, the groundskeeper who sued Monsanto for giving him cancer and was awarded $289M from a California jury.
Dewayne Johnson was in town to attend the premiere of the documentary Ground War — a filmmaker’s investigation into the death of his father takes him deep into the world of golf, chemical lobbying, and citizen activism, where he learns that the rampant use of pesticides around the world may be far more damaging than he thought.
How Tradin Organic is Helping Coconut Farmers in The Philippines
For more than a decade, Tradin Organic has been working with local partners in The Philippines to bring a diversified range of organic products to the market, such as coconut oil, tropical fruits and even cocoa.
The company is helping to support local farmers by assisting them with technical support and organic certification, in addition to paying Fairtrade premium on top of the organic premium.
Ever since I launched the Pressed Organic Juice Directory a few months ago, people have been constantly asking me what I drink for juice.
In terms of pressed organic juice, I prefer green juice in a glass bottle. However, sometimes glass is not available. And sometimes straight green juice is not available either. Usually, this means that a juice bar has added apple for sweetness.
Despite the fact that I have plenty of places to buy pressed organic juice in my neighborhood, I have not abandoned juicing at home. And I never will.
As I mentioned the other day, there were tremendous repercussions for me going on Prozac during college. Yet at the time, I didn’t have any idea that they would be so disastrous.
What influenced my judgment to go on antidepressants was a real desperation to feel better. And to feel better quickly. Worrying about how this would impact my life 5 or 10 years down the road was of no consideration whatsoever. I wanted relief and I wanted it immediately.