Here are some of my best healthy gift ideas. Enjoy!

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION FROM SAKARA LIFE

My friends at Sakara Life, the amazing plant-based organic meal delivery service, have put together The Ultimate Collection from their Clean Boutique.

Not only are you getting a wide array of Saraka Life’s most delicious products, but they are packed with “functional ingredients,” which go beyond nutritional science to also encompass the best of traditional medicine, folk remedies and spiritual healing.

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(Photo courtesy of José Andrés)

When you’re running an organic gazpacho company and dream about the people you’d like involved in your company, there is pretty much only one name at the top of this list: José Andrés. The most widely acclaimed Spanish chef here in the U.S., José Andrés was also named “Outstanding Chef” by the James Beard Foundation in 2011 and recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

For Austin Allan, founder of Tío Gazpacho, who used to eat at José Andrés’ restaurants in Washington, D.C. all of the time, this dream became a reality right before Thanksgiving.

And it all began in April when Austin Allan was in a meeting and received a surprise email from this star chef that said the following:

I am a Spanish chef and am watching you from a distance. I would love to talk.

Needless to say, Austin bolted out of the meeting and got on the phone with him immediately. Six months of conversations and negotiations ultimately led to a partnership between Tío Gazpacho and José Andrés, where he and his restaurant company, ThinkFoodGroup, will help with distribution, sourcing, marketing, PR, social media and product development. Read more »

A few months after the DARK Act passed, which many in the industry called a massive betrayal of organic by the Organic Trade Association, the fallout continues.

As I shared the news on Facebook recently, Dr. Bronner’s, one of the leading and most vocal GMO-labeling advocates in the country, has quit the Organic Trade Association in protest. Read more »

(All images courtesy of the USDA)

To me, it is incredibly suspicious that after a mere two weeks of the DARK Act passing, a new “negative claim” GMO label was just put forth by the USDA. And who is going to benefit the most from it?

Big Food, of course. Read more »

(To follow my day-to-day organic food adventures, please be sure to add me on Snapchat: maxorganic)

Last week in New York City, I attended the Fancy Food Show 2016, one of the best food shows of the year.

While it is not an organic food show per se, there is an increasing amount of organic vendors and I would estimate that about 15-20% of the booths there do offer some type of organic product.  Read more »

(To follow my day-to-day organic food adventures, please be sure to follow me on Snapchat: maxorganic)

While there are many reasons why we should support organic food, we now have yet another one: organic boosts local economies.

In a new study by the Organic Trade Association called U.S Organic Hotspots and their Benefit to Local Economies, it has been found that organic food and crop production – and the business activities accompanying organic agriculture – creates real and long-lasting regional economic opportunities. Read more »

Following in the footsteps of Campbell’s Soup, General Mills has just announced that it will label all GMOs in its products.

In its press release, the company says that with Vermont’s GMO-labeling bill going into effect on July 1st, it wouldn’t make sense to label GMOs in its products just for that state. So, whatever GMO-labeling requirements that Vermont will mandate, General Mills will put those same labels on its products for every state in the country. Read more »