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Best Trade Show Booths from Natural Products Expo West 2014 – Suja, Bitsy’s Brainfood

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Even though much of the talk at Natural Products Expo West usually centers around the new products being unveiled, I always like to recognize the companies that put extra effort into designing the most interesting and imaginative trade show booths.

To me, it speaks volumes about the companies who go the extra mile to create experiences that are both unique and memorable.

At Natural Products Expo West 2014, two booths really stood out and interestingly enough, it was the same people who took home the prize in 2013 as well.

SUJA

At this time last year, Greg Fleishman was Chief Marketing Officer for Sambazon and the person responsible for creating that company’s award-winning tiki booth.

This year, Greg is Chief Marketing Officer at pressed organic juice powerhouse Suja, and he achieved a similar result. If you combine these two accolades with all of the impressive product launches that he has overseen, Greg Fleishman is cementing his reputation as one of the best marketing executives in the industry. Period.

Suja’s booth resonated with me for two main reasons.

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The Best Farmers Market in the U.S. is in Miami, Florida

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Most people would probably say that choosing the best farmers market in the country would be based on selection, prices, quantity, how much is organic, crowds, and overall experience.

For me, it is much more simple.

Which farmers market will dictate my entire travel schedule just so I can be there for it?

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These Two GMO Experiments are Beyond Frightening

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With the ag-biotech industry having made incredible progress brainwashing consumers and politicians into thinking that GMO foods are perfectly safe, the fact remains that no independent, long-term safety studies of these foods have ever been conducted on humans.

And because the general public has been falsely convinced into believing that GMOs are safe and government oversight has been minimal, scientists are pushing genetic engineering into other areas that could spell potential disaster for our planet and our survival.

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Want to Learn More About the Vegan Ketogenic Diet? If So, You’ll Definitely Want This Book

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Everywhere you turn these days, you’ll find news and stories about the ketogenic diet.

This low-carb, high-fat, high-protein diet is helping people lose weight and giving them much needed mental clarity.

However, one of the misconceptions of the keto diet is that animal products are an essential component of it. And for people who only eat plant-based, this can be quite disconcerting.

Along with her co-author Nicole Derseweh, my good friend Whitney Lauritsen — also widely known as the EcoVegan Gal — has just come out with a fantastic book called The Vegan Ketogenic Diet Cookbook, and it is a phenomenal resource for people looking to explore this lifestyle.

Not only does it clear up a lot of the confusion about the keto diet requiring the consumption of animal products, but it provides 75 delicious recipes. And when I was sent an early version of the book, I literally read it cover-to-cover in one sitting. I was that impressed by it.

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Top 5 Organic Food Products from Natural Products Expo West 2014

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Expo West 2014 was a particularly difficult show to choose only 5 products, and I easily could have selected 10 or so. The innovation at this year’s expo was fantastic, and it never ceases to amaze me what organic food companies will come up with next.

I have done something different with this year’s awards. Not only did I decide to do it in a video format, but I invited my friend Vani Hari of Food Babe to critique my selections. As you can tell from above, we had so much fun discussing these products, and we plan on repeating this at each subsequent trade show.

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Prairie Organic Spirits Makes Commitment to Organic Farming, Establishes “Spirit of Change Fund”

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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.

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Fearless Makes a Truly Fantastic Organic Chocolate Bar

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When I go to the organic trade shows twice a year, I see hundreds and hundreds of products.

Many of the products I am already familiar with but some are brand new. And in this category of brand new products, there are always a few that make a long-lasting impression.

Fearless Chocolate happens to be one of those organic products, which I encountered at the 2011 Expo West show in Anaheim, CA, and I vividly remember not being able to stop eating it.

While I favor raw chocolate over non-raw chocolate, because it tastes so much more light and healthy, the Fearless Chocolate Matcha Green Tea Peppermynt was something special.

The combination of green tea and peppermint, both of which I am a huge fan, was what made this chocolate bar so refreshing, compelling and unusual.

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