When I was at EARTH University in Costa Rica, I got a chance to learn everything about sustainable banana production – from how they are grown in the fields to how they are shipped to the U.S.

In this video, I’ll take you onto the banana plantation of EARTH University and show you the issues that they have to deal with when growing bananas in such humid conditions.

What’s important to note is that it took EARTH University many, many years for its sustainable bananas to reach profitability and the school was told by consultants that the program wasn´t going to work. Read more »

The reason for my trip to Costa Rica was to come learn about a place called EARTH University.

EARTH University in Costa Rica is a 4-year accredited school where students come from all over the world to learn about sustainability and entrepreneurship. The goal is to have these students take these skills and knowledge back to their home countries after graduation in order to positively impact their communities.

What is important to know about EARTH University is that almost all of the students come from Latin America and Africa, 71% of the students come from rural impoverished areas, and 60% of the students receive full scholarships. Read more »

I cannot tell you how it good it makes me feel to know that Dr. Mehmet Oz, a very influential voice in the medical world, is tackling the dangers that lurk in our food supply and raising awareness about this very serious issue.

Recently, Dr. Oz heard about high levels of arsenic in apple juice and decided to perform his own independent testing on 5 major brands.

What is important to note here is that the EPA has a legally allowable limit of arsenic in drinking water, 10 parts per billion, while there is no arsenic limit for apple juice.

The following are the results of Dr. Oz’s testing and of these, 10 samples came back higher than the arsenic limit allowed in drinking water. Read more »

Last year, I wrote about a really cool company called Blissmo, a daily deals site for organic and eco-friendly products.

Well, Blissmo has recently launched something even better – Blissmobox.

When you sign-up for Blissmobox, you’ll receive a monthly box of different organic food products and eco-friendly items. Each month has a few themes to choose from and is curated by a well-known person in the organic/health industry.

In this interview, I speak with Sundeep Ahuja, the founder and CEO of Blissmo, who tells us more about the box.

Blissmobox is a great way to discover fantastic, new organic products. If you want to sign-up for Blissmobox, enter the code “livingmaxwell” in the referral box and you’ll receive 2 months for the price of 1. Offer good until September 25th.

At the recent 2011 Expo West trade show, I got a chance to speak with Minh Tsai, the founder of Hodo Soy Beanery. Hodo Soy Beanery is based in Oakland, CA and makes artisinal organic tofu.

The other great product that Hodo Soy Beanery makes are organic yuba strips. If you’ve never heard of yuba strips, definitely give them a try. They are phenomenal!!

In this video, Minh and I talk about his products, what it means to be an artisinal tofu maker and when Hodo Soy Beanery will be expanding its distribution to the East Coast.

Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of The Center for Food Safety, is the leading person in the U.S. in the fight against genetically-modified food. Additionally, there is probably no individual in our country who can speak more accurately about the Obama administration’s stance on organic food than Andrew Kimbrell.

As you will see in this video, which was shot recently at the 2011 Expo West trade show, the behavior of the USDA and the policies / appointments that President Obama is making are very, very unsettling.

The truth is this: We have a president in power who is not in the least bit interested in protecting organic food and is only concerned about promoting GMOs.

On this blog, I do not have a Republican or Democratic agenda. I have an organic food agenda.

Stonyfield recently launched a very interesting campaign called My Organic Moment.

This is where people submit videos and talk about their “organic moment” — why it is important to them, why/when they started eating it, etc.

The company asked me to submit a video a few weeks ago, and my moment talks about the importance of organic food in my decision to go off of antidepressants.

If you don’t want to submit your own video there, I’d love to have you comment below what was your “organic moment”.

Everyone has a different reason for why they are eating organic and what got them started, and I’d love to hear what each reader has to say.