Having recently returned from Natural Products Expo West, a very intense and long five days visiting hundreds of trade show booths and meeting with dozens and dozens of people, one thing is very clear — I felt incredibly fortunate to have stayed in a Pure Room.

Launched by a company called Pure Wellness, a Pure Room is an extremely unique hotel offering that is addressing the needs of wellness-minded travelers in a way that I have never seen before. For people who place a serious priority on health, such as myself and many Living Maxwell readers, it is reassuring to know that this lifestyle can be maintained when on the road.

And now that I have stayed in a Pure Room on three separate occasions — most recently at two different hotels in the Los Angeles area for Natural Products Expo West — these hotel rooms have completely changed the way that I think about travel and how I book my accommodations. Read more »

Last weekend, I had the special opportunity to interview Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, the groundskeeper who sued Monsanto for giving him cancer and was awarded $289M from a California jury.

Dewayne Johnson was in town to attend the premiere of the documentary Ground War — a filmmaker’s investigation into the death of his father takes him deep into the world of golf, chemical lobbying, and citizen activism, where he learns that the rampant use of pesticides around the world may be far more damaging than he thought. Read more »

Regenerative agriculture is a major trend in the organic food world these days, but for many people, it is a confusing and uncertain term.

Wanting people to understand just what ‘regenerative’ means and how the company is embracing this agricultural practice around the world, Dr. Bronner’s has just released an inspirational and compelling new documentary called Journey to Pavitramenthe.

This short film tells the story of fair trade, small-scale farmers in Bareilly, India – located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, 170 miles east of Delhi — who produce regenerative organic mint oil for Dr. Bronner’s products.

“Industrial chemical agriculture on a global scale is a massive cause of greenhouse gas emissions and hence the accelerating rate of climate change. Alongside the move to renewable energy sources, a crucial way to mitigate climate change is through widespread adoption of regenerative organic agriculture practices that sequester atmospheric carbon as stable soil organic matter,” said David Bronner, Cosmic Engagement Officer (CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s. “This short documentary sheds light on how companies can construct supply chains from the ground up that build healthy soil and healthy communities.” Read more »

One of my favorite things to do each year at Natural Products Expo West is to pick out the best trade show booths. While the majority of people’s time and attention is focused on showcasing new products, it cannot be overlooked that a good number of brands invest a tremendous amount of energy and resources into building their trade show booths.

As such, I like to recognize those companies that go the extra mile and present something special.

What I look for most are originality, interactive experiences, and impact. Two of this year’s winners brought a very educational and scientific approach to their booths, and the other one took home the prize for sheer dedication to a cause.

Here are my Best Trade Show Booths at Expo West 2019.

GENERAL MILLS 

On the first day of the show when I was interviewing Carla Vernon, President of the Natural and Organic Operating Unit for General Mills, she said, “Make sure you see our booth. I think you’re going to like it.”

Given that General Mills won my award for Best Trade Show Booth of Expo West 2018, Carla knew that I was on the lookout for creative and unique presentations. Read more »

As I do after each Natural Products Expo West, I name my top picks of the show.

With 3,600 companies having booths at this year’s Expo West, not only was it a challenge to narrow down my long list of great products but actually seeing everything was extremely difficult as well. This show keeps getting bigger and bigger, and fortunately, the quality of offerings improves along with it.

Below are my Top 5 Organic Food Products from Expo West 2019 and if you’d like to read my key trends, full analysis and takeaways from the show, be sure to check out this week’s Organic Insider.

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WHOLE FOOD BARS FROM BRIGHT FOODS

The most innovative product I came across all week at Expo West were the whole food bars from Bright Foods.

What makes these bars so special is they are the very first HPP, refrigerated bars on the market. And because no co-packer had ever manufactured them before, the company needed three years to figure out and perfect the process on its own. Read more »

For most people, having their organic food start-up grow in record speed (from 300 retail locations to 8,500 over the past year) and land high-profile appearances (on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and in People magazine) would have exceeded any measurement of success.

However, for Once Upon a Farm co-founders John Foraker and Jennifer Garner, these accomplishments were not the motivating factors why they joined this Berkeley-based start-up.

“Bringing good nutrition to children everywhere has been our mission since the beginning — it’s never been and will never be about just feeding children who have a socio-economic advantage. I’m committed to finding ways of providing healthy food to children who have less access and often limited opportunities,” said Chief Brand Officer Jennifer Garner. Read more »

The U.S. faces a real challenge when it comes to sourcing and producing organic food.

Right now, organic comprises more than 5% of overall food sales in the country. However, out of the total farmland in the U.S., less than 1% is organic. As a result, we are forced to purchase an incredibly high percentage of our organic food from abroad.

Making matters worse is that there is no governmental vehicle to help transition farmers to organic, which would not only create jobs in the U.S. but would lessen our dependence on imports.

Wanting to do its part to address this problem, Prairie Organic Spirits, the nation’s leading organic spirits brand, has created the Spirit of Change Fund. Through the establishment of this fund, Prairie Organic has committed 1% of its sales to support the next generation of organic farmers and to help transition more conventional farmland to organic. Read more »