Having been entrenched in the organic food sector for the last few years, I have come to gain a tremendous appreciation for the non-profits that play such a vital role in protecting both our industry and the American consumer.

And without a question, one of these phenomenal non-profits is Food & Water Watch.

Recently, I caught up with the Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, Wenonah Hauter, someone who worked for Ralph Nader for 10 years, and we spoke about many different topics – food policy in the U.S., what exactly her organization does and where it operates, and how citizens must get involved.

We also discussed her excellent new book, Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America.

If you’re interested in learning about what is truly going on in our food system and how we can fix it, I strongly suggest that you read Foodopoly. It can be purchased online by clicking HERE.

(Several of the photos used in the video are courtesy of Food & Water Watch.)

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If you know me or have read my bio, you might be aware that I have had some addiction issues in the past.

Fortunately, those problems are behind me, and I have stayed on a positive path for many years now. One of the things that I attribute to my being to able avoid negative influences in my life has been my will power. Read more »

I am always on the search for healthy snacks that I can take with me on-the-go or for whenever I travel.

My ideal snack is nutritious, filling, and not too sweet. I don’t want to eat something and suffer through that “sugar hangover”, even if it is derived from a natural source.

Pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas, are that perfect food. Not only do they satisfy my hunger, but they provide excellent health benefits: Read more »

There is an incredibly controversial ingredient in the organic industry called carrageenan.

If you’re not familiar with it, carrageenan is a common food additive extracted from red seaweed that is often used as a thickening agent (chocolate milk, soy milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream), a substitute for fat, and a stabilizer for beverages that separate and must be stirred or shaken (the carrageenan makes stirring or shaking no longer necessary). It can also be found in deli meats and prepared poultry items.

Carrageenan adds no nutritional value or flavor to foods or beverages  but carries very, very serious health risks. What are they?

Animal studies have repeatedly shown that food-grade carrageenan causes gastrointestinal inflammation and higher rates of intestinal lesions, ulcerations, and even malignant tumors.

And for the past four decades, scientists have repeatedly warned that carrageenan is not safe.

It is bad enough that the FDA allows carrageenan in our food supply, but the fact that it is approved for organics is even worse. Read more »

In this video with my friend and author of Veggies for Carnivores, Lora Krulak shows me: Read more »

Since I started livingmaxwell a few years ago, doing this post has always been a favorite of mine.

One challenge is that some of the items that I have written about in the past – pressed juice, high pressure pasteurization technology, and GMO activism – will be a growing trend every single year. So, what I try to do is not to repeat myself but find emerging trends that are at their early stages.

For 2013, here are my Top 5 Organic Food Trends.

GLUTEN-FREE OATS

As most people know, gluten-free is an enormous market but finding gluten-free organic oats at a reasonable cost is a real challenge. While there are some companies using gluten-free oats, a majority of them do not because the price is simply too high. Read more »

The very first video that I launched on livingmaxwell (see bottom of the post) was about the raw food diet and my profile of The Prana Cafe, an organic raw food restaurant in Newton, MA.

Back then, I was still living in Boston and frequented The Prana Cafe A LOT. Within time I got to know the owner, Taylor Wells, and it turned out that we had many things in common.

Aside from the fact that we were each very into organic, we both went to Brown and played on the tennis team there. So, we hit it off right away.

The thing that struck me about Taylor Wells was that she appeared to be this “superwoman” who had more on her plate than anyone I knew and had a ridiculous amount of energy.

She had a raw food restaurant, four yoga studios in two states, a consulting business, and several blogs. Furthermore, she had three children (two of which she home-schooled) and was pregnant with twins in 40s. Never once did I hear her complain about how busy she was, and there was a constant smile on her face. Nothing but words of gratitude flowed out of her mouth. Read more »