When I was at the Expo West trade show recently, I came across Horizon Organic Milk with DHA Omega-3 and was impressed at first glance. I thought to myself that this looks like a pretty interesting dairy product.

Yet several days after returning back to NYC and just as I was about to write a post about this organic milk, I received an email from The Cornucopia Institute, a watchdog for the organic industry.

The Cornucopia Institute has condemned the USDA for allowing products containing unapproved synthetic additives (DHA Omega-3, as one of them) to be labeled “organic” for an indefinite grace period.

Furthermore, The Cornucopia Institute has filed legal complaints against infant formula manufacturers and Dean Foods, manufacturer of Horizon dairy products, for adding unapproved additives: Martek Biosciences Corporation’s omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (DHA/ARA), derived chemically from fermented algae and fungus, to foods with the organic label. Read more »

School lunch is a major topic of discussion these days. Whether it is Michelle Obama fighting against childhood obesity, Jamie Oliver on TV with his Food Revolution show or the anonymous educator on Twitter (@fedupwithlunch) who takes pictures of school food, people have come to understand that this issue can no longer be ignored.

If I had children and sent them to NYC public schools, I shudder to think what they would be served at lunch.

Well, the New York Times recently did an article on this very subject and revealed quite a bit. Read more »

Even though I do not have any children or a pregnant wife (or a wife, for that matter), I give a tremendous amount of thought as to how I would feed my kids.

And given that many of my friends are now pregnant or already have young kids, it is interesting to observe how these parents make decisions about food.

The one thing that I notice is that organic food becomes much more of a priority when children come into the picture.

For many people out there who are completely new to this area and don’t know where to begin, these are are my Top 5 Organic Food Tips for Pregnant Women and New Mothers.

1) Start Now — While You Are Pregnant This is the biggest mistake I see — women don’t start early enough.

I come across many mothers who are very enthusiastic and adamant about feeding their kids organic food. Read more »

Now that many of my friends have young children, one thing that I hear from all of them is that “My kids won’t eat any green vegetables.”

This doesn’t surprise me in the least because (a) most kids would rather have french fries than spinach or broccoli; and (b) they have to be taught to like greens at a very, very early age. The good news is that there is an easy solution.

It is called Juicing. Read more »

I understand that I may be on the extreme end of things, in terms of my interest in and passion for organic food. In this regard, I know I kind of live in a bubble.

So, it is great to see that many other people are seeing organic food as a requisite to good health as well.

Funded by the Organic Trade Association and KIWI Magazine, a recent survey of consumers found that 41% of parents are buying more organic food today than one year ago. This figure is up significantly from the 31% who reported organic purchases in 2009 over the prior year.

The survey, which was conducted between August 11th – 27th this year, found that organic food purchases were spurred by three main reasons. Read more »

Even though I don’t have kids (yes, 40 and still single. If my mother were still alive, she would not be happy in the slightest.), I always think about what I would feed them.

You can be sure of one thing, however. Come Halloween, they’d be getting organic.

As the end of October approaches, I’ve put together my Top 5 options for Halloween, both organic candy and organic food that is sweet and tastes like candy.

ANGELL ORGANIC CANDY BARS

I came across this product last week at the 2010 Natural Products Expo East Trade Show in Boston. Co-Founder Christopher Angell said it is the only certified organic and fair trade candy bar on the market. While there is a select number of other certified organic candy bars available, I haven’t come across one that is fair trade as well.

The taste is rich, and the middle is soft and chewy. There are three flavors, one of which is vegan (Dark Angel) and one of which is gluten-free (Angel Crisp). Read more »

As I wrote about in a recent blog post, Ayala’s Herbal Water was one of my favorite products that I saw at the 2010 Fancy Food Show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

In this video, I interview the founder of the company, Dr. Ayala, and she talks about how she came up with the product and why.

Ayala’s Herbal Water is leading a trend that I believe will only continue to grow — organic beverages made with unique, not-too-often used herbs and spices. I am currently seeing it in NYC (a video-blog post on this is forthcoming) and we see it here with Ayala’s Herbal Water.

Keep an eye on this company.