While in St. Louis last week attending the National Organic Standards Board meeting, I spent an inordinate amount of time at Seedz Cafe, a plant-based organic restaurant located in Clayton’s DeMun neighborhood.

Founded by a former buyer at Whole Foods Market and built with many reclaimed and recycled materials, Seedz Cafe is dishing out some truly delicious cuisine. Read more »

As many of you know, I have been a long-time fan of Temple Turmeric and believe that the company is synonymous with organic turmeric drinks.

Since its inception, the company has rolled out many different flavors, many of which I have enjoyed and some that I didn’t.

When founder Daniel Sullivan would ask me over the years which one was my favorite, my response was always the same: the original one. Read more »

Over the past few years, I have developed a relationship with the founder of Living Tree Community Foods, Jesse Schwartz.

Jesse is the person who urged me to check out Organic Circle, an amazing organic kosher supermarket in Brooklyn, that I profiled last month in my Supermarket Spotlight column. Needless to say, I trust his judgment.

When he wanted to send me more samples of his products recently, he was pushing real hard for his almond butter.

I said to him, “Jesse, I am sure it is great, but I really can’t eat almond butter anymore. For some strange reason, I now have an allergic reaction to eating almonds. It is better that you send me your lemon olive oil because that’s what I really want to write about. It is the best olive oil that I have ever had.”

This is not hyperbole. It truly is the best organic olive oil that I’ve ever had.

And when you learn how this lemon olive oil is produced, you’ll understand the reason for my enthusiasm.

The olives and lemons are co-milled, which means that they are crushed at the same time. Hence, a single oil is extracted from the combination.

According to Living Tree Community Foods, most flavored olive oils are infused, with an extract being added. The process of co-milling, versus adding an extract afterward, results in a very different final product.

The olives are a Mission variety, which has been used in Europe for cooking and healing in Europe for thousands of years. Introduced in California a few hundred years ago, the Mission olive contains phenols that are not found in other varieties, particularly oleuropein aglycon, which has significant health benefits.

Not to be outdone, the organic Lisbon lemons are an heirloom variety that is richly flavored and deeply aromatic.

Yet, the story gets even more interesting.

The Mission olives are grown by family farmer Darro Greco on a 100% certified organic estate called the Berkeley Olive Grove.

Founded in 1913 by a group of professors from the University of California at Berkeley, the Berkeley Olive Grove brought experts in from Europe to create an olive grove that would sustain itself. The award-winning grove is located in Sacramento Valley, 150 miles from the town of Berkeley, and is situated in a unique geographical area at the western escarpment of Table Mountain. Water naturally percolates from an underground aquifer, and the trees are 100 years old and are dry farmed. Read more »

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

Last week, I got a mysterious shipment from Suja and it was six black bottles of juice with a note inside of it that said:

A Secret So Juicy We Had to Share

I found this to be very strange on several levels.

Normally, when the company sends me product, I get advance warning and I also know what they are shipping out to me. In this package, not only did I have no idea that it was coming, but I had no idea what these juices were when I opened the box. You couldn’t read the label while the bottle was full of juice.  Read more »

Very rarely do I write about supplements, but I came across one recently that I think is fantastic – Collagen Peptides from Vital Proteins.

And even though I have only been using it for a relatively short time, I am already noticing improvements in my hair, skin, and performance levels when working out.

First off, what is collagen and why does it help our body?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in our body and is found in our muscles, bones, skin, ligaments, blood vessel walls, and tendons. It comprises 30% of the protein in our overall body and 70% of the protein that makes up our skin. Collagen is essentially the “glue” that holds our body together.

Not surprisingly, as we get older, collagen production decreases. Poor dietary and lifestyle choices (processed foods, sugar, smoking, too much sun, chemical overload), stress, sickness and long-term strenuous exercise play a role in reduced levels in collagen as well.

So, if we think about collagen being that “glue” that holds our body together, we need to make sure that we are doing what we can to maintain collagen levels. When that “glue” weakens or decreases, we suffer from wrinkles, sagging skin, muscle soreness, and joint and muscle pain. Read more »

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

I have been consistently traveling to San Francisco for many years now but for some reason, Greens Restaurant was never at the top of my list.

And what a mistake that was because the brunch at Greens Restaurant might the best that I have ever had. Yes, ever.

Opened in 1979 as part of the San Francisco Zen Center and consistently among the most acclaimed restaurants in the city, Greens Restaurant has been a pioneer in working directly with local and organic farmers in the Bay Area. The fresh, super-high quality ingredients are immediately noticeable in each dish. Read more »

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

While there have been plenty of documentaries about GMOs and even feature films about GMOs, I can’t remember seeing a cartoon that went directly after genetically-modifies seeds themselves. Until now.

Thanks to the Clif Bar Family Foundation, we are introduced to a trash-talking organic seed named Mr. Seed. Read more »