From KarmaTube

Proving that one person can make a difference, (formerly) twinkie-lovin Texan and successful Wall Street analyst shares the story of one morning’s family breakfast that changed the course of her life, as well as (she hopes) the course of the American food industry. Realizing that her child was allergic to what she had considered safe foods, Robyn O’Brien put her analytical and research skills to work and discovered far more than she’d wanted to about what’s really in the foods we feed our families. This video will have even the hardened skeptics pondering whether their food habits need some tweaking.

Video from KarmaTube

Robyn’s organization, has a gorgeous website packed with inspiring stories, useful information, and easy tips.

Educating yourself, and others, is the first step to motivating change. Call a friend and plan a viewing of the eye-opening documentary, Food Inc.

Even if you’re not ready to go all-out organic, take simple steps to cut toxins from your diet. #1: Instead of eating blue yogurt, eat white yogurt and add your own toppings!

When the building industry effectively died on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2007, and their family’s two construction-related companies shriveled on the vine, Susanne Friend and Tim Mann of Friendly Aquaponics attended an aquaponics course at the University of the Virgin Islands. They now run their own commercial aquaponics system which produces $5000 worth of produce and fish per month. The couple is also running a smaller off-grid system, ideal for family use. They are growing lettuce, two types of tillapia, prawns, cut flowers and taro—a root and leaf crop traditionally grown by Pacific Islanders.

The couple are also running trainings, offering consultancy, and selling their copyrighted plans for commercial and domestic aquaponics systems online. For $99, interested individuals or families can instantly download their low energy 64 or 128 square foot Micro Aquaponics System Plans and Operating Manual with a LIfetime Satisfaction Guarantee. This system can be built for under $700 worth of materials.

In “Vegan-licious” Reuel Ari reminds us all of the continual heightening, year by year, of young people’s awareness of food, their desire for a change of lifestyle, and the overall embrace of purer and more simple dietary habits by the community at large.

As a vegan vegetarian lives on a plant-based diet only Reuel thoughtfully dispels some of the ‘avoidance myths’ that have penetrated popular conceptions of what it means to embrace the least violent way to eat.

Here we find the entire range of nuts, seeds, grains, greens, roots, fruits, legumes, and sprouts of every kind included in his life-giving recipes – enough variety to keep you supplied with delicious and nutritious meals on a daily basis, year round.

Many of these can bring you the energy of love through oil-less water sautéing – perhaps the healthiest of all types of cooked foods! “Vegan-licious” will be a simple and practical guide for everyone’s journey to self-healing and a vibrant life.

Click to learn more about Reuel’s discoveries:

From Ode Magazine

Will eat for food

Under Americas new health-care reform act, health-care spending will rise slightly faster than it would have otherwise, according to a new government study. By 2019, the average American will spend $13,652 on health care every year, according to the report. Without reform, the average would be slightly lower: $13,387 per person. They now spend an average $8,389, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

Apart from the question what one may think about such very precise numbers projected almost a decade into the future, there is one clear overall trend: health care expenses are on the rise. It is probably one of the curses of the modern Western world. The wealthier we become, the more we spend on remaining healthy. It is not difficult to see the order of our priorities. What is difficult is to understand the priorities that we set in our health care policies. We read a lot about government regulation of new medicines and therapies. We hardly read anything about the importance of the very first crucial driver of our health: our food.

My favorite comparison goes like this: it does matter which fuel one pours into which engine. If you put diesel oil into a gas operated internal combustion engine, you won’t travel very far (I have tried, but that’s another story). So it makes sense to me that the food we choose influences our body engines, our health. It seems that my point is easily proven: more and more research confirms the relationship between junk food and obesity (and diabetes).

Nevertheless, still one probably gets the worst food in the primary health place – the hospital – as if modern medicine wants to underline that food has no relationship with health. There are, of course, government agencies that advocate the importance of fresh food compared to packaged foods. At the same time the economic system that we have organized drives more and more people away from healthy food and toward higher health care expenses.

An example: the cost of fresh fruit and vegetables has increased by nearly 200% since 1983. That increase is 3 times greater than the increase in sugars and even 6 times greater than the increase of the price of sodas over the same period of time. As an inspiring blog suggests: check Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma to find out why junk food can be so much cheaper than healthier alternatives.

It can be explained but it doesn’t make sense. It should be our greatest priority to make sure that people eat healthy. One way would be to use taxes. In The Netherlands several political parties are advocating to exclude organic food from sales tax. Taxes provide a great instrument to direct consumer behavior. It is a painful fact that the current tax system in most Western countries stimulates the energy and chemical intensive agriculture that produces the very unhealthy food that we shouldn’t eat.

In Harlem, New York, a truck regularly delivers organic food to people who would normally never consider buying – more expensive – healthy food. The Holton Farms operation was established to bring farm-fresh produce to people who cannot shop at established organic supermarkets. Besides changing the tax system, it is difficult to imagine a more relevant contribution to the health of the population.

While health care spending may increase with wealth, we are only discovering the relationship between health and food. You are what you eat, may very well be an accurate description.

On my recent trip to Redding, CA I discovered Hemp & Greens, a great new superfood cereal. It’s also available in three other flavors, Acai, Cacao and Chia. Here’s some copy from their package that will give you an idea what it is, what’s in it and the company’s mission.

The company making these cereals is San Francisco based Living Intentions

“At Living Intentions, we strive to produce fun and innovative raw food products that not only satiate your palette, but nourish your body too.  We take great care in each step of our production processes to ensure the best quality of flavor, texture and appearance.  We believe that making healthy food choices should be simple and effortless  without sacrificing the experiences  you love.  We invite you to enjoy the best, and with gratitude, thank you for your support.  ~ LI Team”

Redefining The Standard:

Wake up to something new… Superfood Cereal redefines the standard for healthy breakfast cereals.  Our innovative cereal creations are made from a combination of live sprouted ingredients, an optimal balance of complete proteins, healthy fats, antioxidants and fiber.  Each flavor is light and crunchy, super tasty and enhanced with a unique blend of the most fortified superfoods our planet offers.  We encourage you to energize, harmonize, and activate your morning… Wake Up Raw with Superfood Cereal.

Sprouted Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free and Raw

OUR INGREDIENTS:  Organic Buckwheat Sprouts, Organic Coconut, Organic Coconut Palm Sugar, Organic Sultana Raisins, Organic Banana, Organic Sunflower Sprouts, Raw Brown Rice Bran & Germ (grain-free),  Organic Sesame Seed, Green Protein Superfood Blend (Organic Hemp Protein, Organic Spinach Powder, Organic Spirulina, Chlorella, Organic Alfalfa Leaf and Organic Dandelion Leaf), Organic Vanilla Extract and Himalayan Crystal Salt.

<em>
I spoke with Living Intentions co-founder Joshua McHugh about his dream child that is now helping educate people about the benefits of raw foods with his line of high-quality products.</em>

NPD: What was the catalyst that got you into health and raw foods.

JM: At the age of 13, I was diagnosed and still live with diabetes and began researching how I could optimize my health. Later on in life, I became a vegetarian, then a vegan and in 2000, I began eating raw foods. At this point, I have found what works for me which is a balanced diet of highly mineralized foods and superfoods.

NPD: Tell me about the origins of Living Intentions

JM: After exploring health and the best foods I could find, I wanted to integrate these natural lifestyle choices with earning a living and started Joshua’sa Raw Cuisine a raw foods catering company that supplied gourmet raw dishes to events and private parties in the San Francisco Bay area. One of my initial inspirations was to take cooked foods and make ten times tastier raw food versions. Two years later, after I kept getting asked where people could buy my dishes, I began thinking about introducing a few products. I met the founder of Blessings Alive and Radiant Foods, the manufacturer of Raweo, a healthy version of Oreo cookies, who told me my products were great and encouraged me to go for it.

NPD: Did you have any experience in the food business?

JM: None. All I had was a degree in psychology and a deep passion for raw foods and that has carried me along on my journey. That and the belief that I could do it and learn what I needed to learn along the way and that’s been exactly what’s happened.

NPD: What was the source of the Living Intentions name?

JM: It actually came in a dream in which I opened a book and I saw the name Raw Intentions. Elizabeth, the other co-founder and myself sat down and looked at the name and wanted to find a word that would not only speak to a larger audience, but that embraced more of the feeling behind our intentions…. we finally chose Living.  Stating intentions and manifesting them was an integral part of my life and life in general when we direct our own energy rather than being pushed around by outer energies.

The name was really a statement about how important it is to listen to your heart no matter what and in food choices to listen to our bodies. What I learned as a diabetic is that no one can tell you better than yourself. No matter what type of food you choose, raw, cooked, vege or not…eating clean food is super important- food that vibrates and is in harmony with your being.

NPD: So what happened next?

JM: I started by going to Kinko’s, printing labels, putting two flavors of raw corn chips in bags and sealing them with my newly purchased sealer. Our first account was the Rainbow Co-op thanks to a very supportive buyer there. Erehwon in Los Angeles was our second account and we presently sell to about 300 stores and climbing. We branched into five and eventually 10 flavors of seasoned nuts under the Gone Nuts label, opened a manufacturing facility and focused on expanding our stores for the next five years. 2 1/2 years ago, we launched our raw cereals at Expo West

NPD: How do you currently distribute your products?

JM: We have a small distributor in Northern California who is user friendly and manages direct store delivery and a broker in California. We like that model which is simple and plan to grow region by region. We are in most of the Whole Foods on the west coast with other natural food retailers in Texas, Arizona and some southern states. We sell to Wegman’s and other independent natural foods stores in the east.

NPD: How were the early years of introducing raw foods?

JM: When I first heard about them in 2000, no one knew anything about raw foods. There was Living Intentions, Blessings, Lydias, and Go Raw and a few other small companies. We were the raw foods industry at that point. So we would go into stores on the west coast and no one had a clue what we were talking about. Slowly, the idea took off and at this point the movement is pretty much national and every 6 months the awareness grows. We have accounts across the U.S. now.

During the past 12 months we have grown 200% thanks to the great reception we have found for our cereals, trail mixes and salad toppings. We just doubled our manufacturing plant to meet the growing demand.

NPD: What values drive your business?

JM: Quality Ingredients,  Integrity, a Clean Pure Eco Friendly Space and Balance. These values support our mission to bring the average American into the awareness of how raw food can help them optimize their health.

NPD: What lessons have you learned that you would you like to share with our readers and the world?

JM: I believe its essential to honor what comes from your heart, tap into your intuition and creativity, love and live in the moment and have faith that you’ll get through the challenges and in the end, something bigger and better will appear that you might not have imagined.

NPD: How do you go about reaching people in the mainstream?

JM: We want to reach everyone we can so we’re developing super healthy transitional foods that are processed and dehydrated and help move people into a healthier lifestyle, making the transition to raw or vegetarian or vegan less severe.

NPD: How many members of your team are there?

JM: We have ten employees at the moment mostly production and a few that work in the office. I am committed to co-creating an employee friendly environment that everyone will enjoy and want to be part of.  Fun is a key piece of our team spirit. I’d like to see our work environment become a micro version of the Google’s campus.

NPD: How have you funded the business?

JM: Living Intentions was initially funded from pocket change and money from friends and family.my entire bank account at the time and we have continued to grow with internally generated funds. Friends and family have lent the company money along the way. In a year or so, we will look at bringing in a financial partner who can provide us with the wisdom of their experience to compliment my passion and strengthen any weak areas of the business.

NPD: Tell me about your website.

JM: I actually built our website with no experience and it will be getting a new look soon as part of our re-branding efforts.   It accounts for about 10% of our sales and traffic growth has mirrored our sales growth.

NPD: What’s your greatest challenge in growing Living Intentions?

JM: To keep our price points as low as possible while keeping quality at the highest level so we can reach the Safeway shopper.  As any industry grows, it attracts those who are in it to capitalize on the trend and to make as much money as possible and are willing to purchase lower quality ingredients and occasionally mislabel them. In each business decision I make, I always ask myself am I cutting corners and compromising our product  integrity and although it may be a harder and more costly way to go, ultimately I believe potential customers will respect what our brand stands for and continue purchasing our products whereas when they discover a competitor’s lack of ethics, they may choose to switch to Living Intentions because that’s exactly what we always strive to do: live our highest intentions.

NPD: Can you share your vision for Living Intentions?

JM:  We originally developed Living Intentions as a food company that delivers great new products with the vision of becoming a wellness and lifestyle company. That is still my vision and always will be. In the immediate future,  I see us getting into multiple food categories and expanding our distribution. We’re building a foundation in food and long term, we will expand into other products and services that are integral parts of the natural lifestyle our customers are living.  I am 100% committed to the realization of that vision.

NPD: Thank you for sharing your inspiring story with us JOSHUA.

JM: Thank you Jeff. I’ve enjoyed it.