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 can’t tell you how gratifying it is to share with you great tasting organic products that are also making a big difference in the world.

One such product that I recently discovered at Whole Foods Tribeca is Sol Simple Solar Dried Bananas.

Produced in Nicaragua, the organic bananas come in thin spears and are dried indoors using a solar drying technology, which enables Sol Simple to reduce carbon emissions.

According to the company, traditional outdoor drying techniques take 2-3 days, expose the fruit to mold and bacteria, and allow the fruit to oxidize.

Sol Simple’s end product is a sweet-tasting and slightly chewy banana spear.

The benefit of sun-dried bananas, as opposed to the bananas that we get at the stores, is that the fruit is not picked off of the tree as early. This means that it has more time to mature and contains higher level of minerals and vitamins. Read more »

Last night, I was at Whole Foods Tribeca in NYC where renowned nutritionist Joel Fuhrman, M.D., author of the bestselling Eat to Live and host of the PBS show 3 Steps to Incredible Health, gave a lecture and also announced a new partnership with the Whole Foods Wellness Clubs.

Here’s a synopsis on both.

PARTNERSHIP WITH WHOLE FOODS

As I wrote about recently, Whole Foods launched a pilot program of five Wellness Clubs around the country.

This new partnership with Dr. Joel Fuhrman means that one his associates, Adam Fiterstein, M.D., will be onsite at the Whole Foods Tribeca Wellness Club on Mondays to give private consultations to members and to host lectures for both members and non-members alike.

The consultations include: Read more »

Recently, I received a copy of Martin Lindstrom’s Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy.

The reason that I wanted to read it was because Whole Foods was discussed in the book and I was curious to know what he had to say about the company.

As Martin Lindstrom correctly points out, Whole Foods is very strategic in how it merchandises its products. A few examples that he mentioned were:

– Putting flowers by the entrance. These are called “symbolics”,  and they evoke freshness and “prime” us as we begin our shopping.

– All of the signs in the produce and fruit section are written on black slate with chalk, a tradition of European marketplaces. Apparently, marketers refers to this tactic as “farmgate”, so that consumers think a farmer just drove up and dropped off the vegetables. Read more »

When I was first contacted by Whole Foods to learn about its new program to help raise money for kids in Africa, I didn’t have any idea what to expect.

I was very aware that the company, through its Whole Planet Foundation, does a lot of great work around the world, but the video below really blew me away. And I knew immediately that I had to write about it and spread the word. Read more »

Yesterday, Starbucks announced that it had purchased Evolution Fresh for $30 million in cash and held a conference call formally disclosing its plans to enter the $50 billion health and wellness industry.

Started by Jimmy Rosenberg, the original founder of Naked Juice, Evolution Fresh is a California-based company that sells a line of organic and non-organic pressed juices in retail locations on the West Coast.

This acquisition by Starbucks is just the first step of a large strategic initiative to tap into the growing health and wellness sector. Read more »

Yesterday, I was at the Whole Foods store in Tribeca (Lower Manhattan in NYC) and got a preview of a new concept that the company is piloting at five locations across the country – Wellness Clubs.

Whole Foods embarks on many different programs, most of which I am impressed with, but these Wellness Clubs may be its best one yet.

John Mackey, the Co-CEO and Founder of Whole Foods, has taken the unusual, bold and admirable step to use his corporation as a tool to improve the health of American citizens. He has declared that a plant-based diet is the way that people will become healthier, and Whole Foods has developed initiatives around this (his) philosophy. Read more »