VanCity Invests in OrganicLives!

Photo: OrganicLives storefront in Vancouver

Kudos to VanCity for financing new equipment for OrganicLives facility in Richmond! OrganicLives is a Vancouver-based organic food manufacturer and distributor, restaurant, and educational centre. Whenever and wherever possible OrganicLives supports fair trade and sustainable practices.

OrganicLives “has been making a positive impact to the health of our community for two years. OrganicLives has doubled its revenues year over year and is positioned for growth.” [Source: VanCity "Good Money™ an organic food business scale up to meet demand"]

The new investment dollars from VanCity will enable OrganicLives to expand its offerings into retailers such as Whole Foods. 

AND OrganicLives does have lots to offer.  A new OrganicLives Cafe was just opened in December 2011 on Granville (451 Granville Street at W. Hastings ), located near the newly opened Chopra Yoga Center.  AND  an OrganicLives Cooking Series from Preet Marwaha, CEO & Founder of OrganicLives can answer questions such as these: “Why organic? Why sustainable? What is actually nutritious? What is actually fairly traded?” [For course start dates, cost and content, see "Cooking Series: Food 101."] You can also shop online at OrganicLives at the Ultimate Organic Pantry.

Cacao and Other Superfoods?

Video: David Wolfe Noniland chocolate Farm

If you haven’t yet discovered author, nutritionist AND now organic farmer David Wolfe, then you’re in for a treat! In the video above Wolfe introduces the NoniLand Hawaiian Agricultural Research Center and Bee Sanctuary in Hawaii, the Chocolate Farm portion.

Chocolate or cacao is of course one of the so-called “superfoods” more and more available in organic food stores. These nutrient-rich superfoods pack an energetic punch. For example, a handful of gogi and/or golden berries with a few cacao bits thrown in will keep a belly full AND energy levels up for hours.

The more I read about these superfoods myself, the less I want to eat anything BUT superfoods! Of course David Wolfe has written at length about these special foods. Two books to check out are 1) Superfoods/Food and Medicine of the Future and 2) Eating for Beauty. 

For more information about organic chocolate from Wolfe’s Hawaii reasearch center, visit Sacred Chocolate online.

More “Bent Art” a la Terry Border!

Photo: artist Terry Border at work

Photos: “Chainsaw Banana” and “Fortune’s Lost”

Here are more creations from ”bent objects” artist Terry Border!  This art is definitely “organic,” whether the food used is or not! Bent and twisted humor is also included. For even more, see “Bent Objects” on The Daily Eater website. Border’s art is also featured in three books available on Amazon.

Organic in the Raw!

Video:  “Kirlian (Aura) Photography of raw foods ”

Most of us have clued into ORGANIC being more nutrient-dense than chemically-laced food.  But, what about raw versus cooked?  Has everyone realized how many healthy nutrients are lost by cooking organic food?  

Check out the “auras” of  raw and cooked produce in this video. Clairvoyance is NOT required. Kirlian Photography takes up the slack. (Kirlian photography refers to a form of photogram made with voltage.) Photograms made this way reveal the dynamic energy fields around raw organic food, (and not-so-dynamic fields around cooked or commercial-grade food).

Next time you open your fridge, think about how much energy you’d like to ingest. Raw organic is apparently superior to cooked. [For more about raw organic food, preparation and recipes, see “Raw Food Diet Magazine.”

Kauai Chocolate Farm Tour?

Photos: Kauai Chololate Farm offerings

Here’s to a chocolate lovers paradise, the island of  Kauai! That’s the “Garden Isle” in the Hawaiian Islands. After what seems like weeks of “dark, windy and wet” in Vancouver, hopping a plane to Hawaii for sun and warm AND a Steelgrass Chocolate Farm Tour sounds like a great idea.

Video: Quick look at Hanalei organic chocolate farm (2 minutes)

“Hawaii is the only state where the chocolate tree grows, and the only place on Kauai where you can experience a live chocolate tree orchard is at Steelgrass Farm, our family’s eight-acre tropical garden specializing in vanilla, bamboo, and theobroma cacao, the chocolate tree. (Tour Photographs) You’re invited to enjoy Chocolate From Branch to Bar, a guided exploration of everything there is to know about how to grow and harvest chocolate fruit, and turn that fruit into your own home-made chocolate.”[Excerpted from Steelgrass Chocolate Farm.]

Yet another delicious excuse to visit the Garden Isle!