Living Maxwell
Company Stories
Last week, I was in New York City to attend two fantastic trade shows — 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show and Good Food Mercantile.
Whenever I go to these shows, I always come across some outstanding organic products, and this year was no exception.
Here are my Top 10 Organic Products of the 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show and Good Food Mercantile.
Living Maxwell
Company Stories
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.
And this is precisely why Lisa Bronner’s Soap & Soul: A Practical Guide to Minding Your Home, Your Body and Your Spirit with Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps spoke to me so much, as it squarely touches on the importance of cleaning both the tangible and intangible — an essential formula for a meaningful life.
Living Maxwell
Company Stories
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.
Living Maxwell
Better Choices
As I have written about many times before, I am a water fanatic. I like clean, ultra-purified water and have a four-stage filter (with a .015 micron filter on filter #2) in my apartment.
When I go to work, there is a Poland Spring cooler but I refuse to drink from it. Why?
The water tastes very, very off and is not purified.
So, I bring my own bottles of water to work each day. This may sound crazy to some people but drinking high quality water is essential to staying healthy.
Given that I take so much effort to drink good water, the type of bottle that I use is also of great importance.
I used to drink from a BPA-free plastic bottle. The problem with that is that it is still plastic and is leaching other chemicals into the water.
A message from E3Live
The best testimonial that I can give is that I drink this every single day, as it impacts my mood in an incredibly positive way.
E3Live + BrainON is certified organic, fresh-frozen AFA (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) with a concentrated, aqueous, organic extract of Phenylethylamine and Phycocyanin.
Organic Insider
Company Stories
With more than 80% of U.S. consumers purchasing organic food on a regular basis, the industry continues to surge in popularity, and there are more organic brands – and choices – than ever.
Yet, when one takes a deeper look at what is happening behind the scenes, the picture is rather unsettling. Most notably, the farmers are suffering beyond imagination.
According to the USDA, projected 2019 median farm income was expected to be -$1,636, and a majority of farmers are forced to earn off-farm income to feed their families and keep their farms afloat.
Canada-based Farmer Direct Organic, a certified organic producer of grains, seeds and legumes, is acutely aware of this problem and is making it a cornerstone of the company’s operating philosophy.
Living Maxwell
Better Choices
If you are looking for organic fish in the U.S., you will not find it. Why?
Because there is no such a thing as USDA certified organic fish, as national organic standards for fish have not yet been approved.
That being said, some fish are certainly better to eat than others, and Food & Water Watch recently released its Smart Seafood Guide.
The Smart Seafood Guide gives an excellent analysis of over 100 different fish, provides regional guides, and offers helpful suggestions so that consumers can make the healthiest and most sustainable choices possible.
Organic Insider
Better Choices
In yet another study, we have more evidence that organic is a healthier choice.
A report out of the University of Barcelona claims that organic tomatoes have a higher amount of antioxidants than conventional tomatoes.
Researchers used liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry to determine that organic tomatoes have a greater amount of phenolic compounds or polyphenols. Polyphenols, which are natural antioxidants of plant origin, are associated with the prevention of cardiovascular and degenerative diseases, and some forms of cancer.
Living Maxwell
Must-Read
For years, I have been warning about the health risks of drinking non-organic hormonal milk.
But it isn’t just the synthetic growth hormones that are worrisome.
It is also the alarming level of antibiotics that animals receive and the pesticide-soaked, GMO grains they are fed.
A recently published report from researchers at Emory University, in collaboration with The Organic Center, is validating our concerns with non-organic milk.
Living Maxwell
Better Choices
Here are a few things that we know.
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.
Living Maxwell
Company Stories
When I was at EARTH University in Costa Rica, I got a chance to learn everything about sustainable banana production – from how they are grown in the fields to how they are shipped to the U.S.
In this video, I’ll take you onto the banana plantation of EARTH University and show you the issues that they have to deal with when growing bananas in such humid conditions.
What’s important to note is that it took EARTH University many, many years for its sustainable bananas to reach profitability and the school was told by consultants that the program wasn´t going to work.
EARTH University’s president refused to give up because he knew that this was the right way to do business – for the environment, for the farm workers, for consumers – even though his bananas were more expensive than conventionally-grown ones.
Whole Foods recognized the importance of what EARTH University was doing and the values that it stood for, and decided to distribute the school’s bananas throughout the U.S. Not only has this partnership been critical for the long-viability of EARTH University’s banana program, but the strong demand for the school’s bananas has proven that sustainability is good business.
Without question, EARTH University’s bananas are the best that I have ever eaten. If you have the chance to buy them, definitely do so.
You’ll be eating a fantastic product and also be supporting an incredibly important endeavor for sustainability.
Also, being such a huge fan of bananas, I can’t tell you how interesting this day was for me. Enjoy!
