Get ready America.

Starting this fall, you are about to see a massive propaganda war hitting all forms of multimedia.

The Financial Times reported (free registration may be required) that a new organization called the US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance will be spending $30M a year to “clarify perceptions about how industrial farmers treat animals and and the impact of hormones and antibiotics on the food that they eat.”

In the article, Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said that “consumers are confused. There is a huge knowledge gap out there and we want people to know that farmers and ranchers are committed to providing healthy choices.”

Unfortunately, the only huge knowledge gap is that more of America does not know about the incredible abuse going on at the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). Animals are treated in the worst imaginable conditions and are given antibiotics because farm (factory) owners know that the animals will get sick by walking around in their own feces all day. Read more »

As I have gotten older, my values have become much, much more clear.

Along with my family and friends, there may be nothing more important to me than health. And to me, good health is synonymous with organic food.

Unfortunately, however, we live in a country where organic food is incredibly marginalized and deemed not that important by our leaders. Why is this?

Politicians and the regulatory bodies that they oversee, namely the USDA and FDA, are utterly beholden to Big Ag and do everything they can to placate them.

While countries such as France and the Philippines are feverishly promoting organic farming, President Obama and his policymakers are pushing a genetically-modified food agenda. Read more »

On Saturday night in NYC’s Flatiron District, there was a small party celebrating Gnosis Chocolate’s new pop-up store.

In this interview, I speak with Vanessa Barg, Founder and CEO, and Lauren Gockley, Chocolatier, of Gnosis Chocolate about what prompted them to open up this shop, whether retail is part of their future strategy and the importance of superfoods in their chocolate.

If you’ve never tried Gnosis Chocolate, definitely go check it out. It is some of the best organic chocolate on the market.

The pop-up store is located in the restaurant Organique at 110 East 23rd Street in NYC.

This past weekend, I attended the fantastic Wanderlust Yoga Festival in Stratton, Vermont. If you are a yoga person, definitely try to go to one of these events. It is pretty spectacular. There was plenty of organic food available (a must, for me), and here is a sampling of some of the organic meals that I had.

ORGANIC PASTA WITH VEGETABLES AND SALAD

Read more »

For organic beer lovers, the North American Organic Brewers Festival (NAOBF) that takes place in Portland, Oregon from June 24-26 has to be as good as it gets. Where else can you sample dozens and dozens of organic beers, listen to great music and be surrounded by so many like-minded people?

After speaking with Craig Nicholls, the founder of the event, I realized that this is much more than exposing people to organic beer. This is about raising the bar for sustainable living, especially for large events.

What does this mean exactly? Read more »

With Passover coming up soon, I wanted to talk about organic food options for this holiday since many people don’t even know they exist.

For me and many others out there, holidays do not mean a holiday from eating healthy food.

Regardless of how special the day is, I never want to be putting pesticides or synthetic growth hormones into my body.

MINI-MATZOH

This is the first time that I’ve ever come across mini-matzoh. I guess it is for kids or people who think that the standard size matzoh is too big.

Someone in Aviv’s marketing department must have been working overtime on this one. Read more »

For organic food lovers, holidays definitely don’t mean a vacation from organic. So, with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I have put together a few different organic options for both chocolate and flowers.

CHOCOLATE

Without question, my favorite place to get dessert in NYC is at One Lucky Duck. Whatever they make is outrageously good and that includes anything chocolate-related. Read more »