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God said, ‘I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.’ So God made a farmer.
-Paul Harvey, 1978
Read MoreIt’s no secret that agriculture is experiencing a critical labor shortage, but what many people don’t realize is how far its impact ripples out. According to a 2017 report from the California Farm Bureau Federation, 55 percent of responding farmers had experienced employee shortages despite ramped-up recruiting, increased pay and other incentives.
Read MoreDid you know that 85% of kids in this country are not getting the vitamins and minerals they need to support proper physical and mental development? This is largely due to the fact that they’re consuming fewer foods that are fortified with the core five food groups—fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein. As parents, it’s more important than ever to think about the foods we’re consuming with our kids—not only when you sit down for meals, but also when eating on the go.
Read MoreFermented foods are big right now. Everywhere you look, someone’s talking about the health-promoting qualities of sourdough bread, kimchi, or yogurt, and for good reason: fermentation introduces digestion-aiding probiotics and the glucosinolate compounds believed to fight cancer. What’s more, it might even support the immune system.
Read MoreLast month, the journal Pediatrics came out with a study of how common, FDA-approved food additives threaten children’s health. The results were grim, underscoring the fact that the United States is woefully behind much of the world in regulating toxic ingredients like phthalates, artificial colors, and preservatives like nitrates and nitrites…and how the development of our children’s endocrine, nervous, and reproductive systems are at stake.
Read MoreIncreasing the availability of nitrates in our diet means we don’t need to rely on internal mechanisms to produce this compound and can react to challenges on the arterial system quicker. There is also a lot of evidence to show that a healthy more elastic arterial system is associated with a significant reduction in mortality from a cardiovascular event.
Read MoreIf you’re anything like me, it can be a struggle to stick to a healthy balanced diet when you get hit with the hustle and bustle of life. You get caught up at the office and the next thing you know you’re grabbing the #1 from the closest fast food chain and devouring it in your car. Throw traveling into the mix, and now you’re living off of whatever healthy snack you can find at the gas station or airport.
Read More“Gut health” is such a huge buzz-term right now and people are flocking to health food stores to stock up on probiotics, etc. Can you start by telling us what “gut health” really means on a physiological level and why it is so important?
Read MoreAs I mentioned in my last post, as a vegetable farmer, I’m always on a mission to get more produce and diversity into my kids’ diets. I credit my own mom with influencing my approach on this, as she always said “A little of everything, not a lot of one thing.” I’ve never forgotten that and take it to heart as a parent.
Read MoreMost people know about antioxidants but, what they are “anti” against is perhaps less well known. Buckle in, here we go. In the mid-1950’s a truly brilliant Scientist proposed the “free radical theory of aging”—also sometimes referred to as the oxygen paradox—that says, “That which gives us life also takes it”.
Read MoreWe’ve been talking over the last year about the health benefits of eating vegetables in their many different forms, whether fresh, juiced, blended or, of course, as powders. On a personal level, I’m a great lover of veg, and not just because I work in agriculture. My mantra at home―the one that makes my kids roll their eyes―is “Gotta have a veg!” At my house, we eat a veggie with every meal because, if I’m promoting the value of vegetables in my profession, I think it’s important to practice what I preach in my personal life and my diet.
Read MoreIn this blog series, we ask Dr. Fogarty, a nutrition and exercise expert from the UK, to weigh in on how eating vegetables affect our health and athletic performance.
Read MoreVisit any health food store and scan the labels on different meal replacement drinks. The majority of those ingredients? They hail from China, Egypt, and India, countries that historically lack transparency with truth in ingredients.
Read MoreGilroy, CA, April 16, 2018—Spinaca Farms, known for growing, packing and procuring conventional and certified organic produce for the fresh market, announced the launch of their Root-to-Shoot program that maximizes crop utility for American farmers while supplying high-quality domestic vegetable products to the rapidly expanding functional foods market.
Read MoreThroughout 2017, we hammered on the science-based health benefits of eating beets, kale, and broccoli, discussed different modalities for getting our greens, and even discussed whether eating greens is healthful for dogs and cats.
Read MoreIf you’ve set foot in a grocery store or juice bar in the last decade, you’re aware that kale is having something of an extended moment in the spotlight. A relative of cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, this hearty veggie is the all-star of leafy greens.
Read MoreEver notice how Fido or Furball sometimes munches on grass or weeds? It turns out dogs and cats like their greens just as we humans do. Though their diet should be primarily comprised of protein, pets also eat plant matter for digestive aid, nutrients and detoxification. When their body needs it, they make use of whatever’s handy (including―but not limited to―your lawn).
Read MoreIf you count potato chips, a lot of Americans have been eating a semi-plant-based diet for years… which begs the question: What exactly is a plant-based diet? Researchers at the American College of Cardiology recently studied three iterations of plant-based diets to find that, while a higher intake of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables was associated with a “substantially lower risk of heart disease,” a plant-based diet that emphasized “less healthy plant foods like sweetened beverages, refined grains, potatoes and sweets had the opposite effect.”
Read MoreFamiliar with the sulfuric odor of a broccoli field? (We certainly are!) That stinky smell actually comes from sulforaphane, a compound present in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and kale.
Believe it or not, this malodorous component has been shown to inhibit the development and growth of cervical, pancreatic, hepatocellular carcinoma and ovarian cancer cells in the human body.
Read MoreSure, they’re delicious pickled, pureed into soups, and sliced over salads, but what about beet health benefits? Did you know beets also pack a powerhouse of nutrients for brain and body performance? Athletes swear by the root vegetable’s ability to increase blood flow, enhance tolerance of intense exercise and sharpen their brains’ cognitive function. So, what is the almighty beet’s healthy secret? Turns out there are a few.
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