Green Options » biodynamic

“Let Fragrance be thy Medicine” with Sexy Transcendent Scents from In Fiore

Lucille Chi — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 05:06:37 +0000

“In Fiore is Italian for In Bloom…”

Founded in 1999, In Fiore was created out of a desire to recreate the wisdom and traditions of couture European Apothecaries. The founder currently studies in a new program that will merge homeopathy and energy medicine into the blooming In Fiore lines.

Right now, I am longing to try is this VITALE Toning Floral Essence:

In Fiore Vitale is “an aloe-based toning essence with fourteen herbal infusions including chamomile flowers and nettles, and essential oils of cypress, rose, and myrrh that revitalize and

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Green Wine? Yes. How?

Paul Smith — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:04:41 +0000

This morning as I woke up to my clock radio, the one minute Project Green segment came on the Rush Limbaugh leaning KNCO AM. It reported on a recent meeting of California wine growers, all 26 of which are talking preliminary to major efforts to green their operations, product, and packaging.

Somehow this doesn’t surprise me. Vintners are acutely aware of the health of their environment, their plants, and the resulting product. With the refined and particular tastes of many of their consumers, a lackluster wine will lead to lackluster profits. Beyond that though, their customers are, I would venture to guess, more likely to be of the LOHAS mindset, choosing what they consume based on more factors then simply the cheapest available. They want everything they touch to have thought, consciousness, and a lighter impact on the planet factored into them.

How can a wine be green? The grapes themselves can of course be organic, the growing method biodynamic. But what else?

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Amazing Health Benefits of Therapeutic Massage

Lucille Chi — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:57:10 +0000

Massage has many important health benefits as it reduces tension and anxiety, increases blood circulation and helps with pain. Massage greatly reduces stress, which leads to most major diseases. When it is integrated into your wellness routine, massage can help you maintain physical, mental and emotional well being. Learn to treat yourself once in a while, just like you do when you go out to dinner, and remember to tip.

Major health benefits of massage include:

Calms the nervous system and allows a sense of relaxation and well being to set in.
Massage reduces held tension in the body and eliminates anxiety.
It Improves blood circulation, and improves how oxygen and nutrients go to the cells, giving you enhanced immune function.
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Summer is the Season for Sangria

Megan Prusynski — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:43:22 +0000

Summer is my favorite time of year. The days are long and perfect for hiking, traveling, going to the beach, or just sitting on the porch. And summer is the season of my favorite fruits: berries, plums, and melons! I grew up picking huckleberries every summer in Idaho and am always on the lookout for wild berries. Free, fresh-picked fruit is always the tastiest, and wild blackberries and plums happen to be just ripening for the picking where I live on the Mendocino coast of California.

We took a walk to the beach the other day through an orchard overflowing with ripe plums. Further on, the path was lined with tall blackberry bushes. Needless to say, we had an excess of blackberries and plums for a while. Add to that the fact that a local organic wine was on sale this week, and I naturally just had to make sangria!

My sister lived in Spain for a semester last year, and I had some amazing sangria when I went there to visit her. Of course she knew a recipe for sangria, which the one below is based on. (Thanks sis!) So, with a little local foraging, some fresh-picked seasonal berries, and some local wine, I made a yummy summer drink that can be adapted for any kind of fruit that’s in season.

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Greenleaf: LA’s New Green Gourmet Chopshop

Courtney Carlisle — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:18:18 +0000

The tagline (Green is Good) for Jonathan Rollo’s new Beverly Hill’s based gourmet chopshop, Greenleaf, pretty much says it all. This fast casual company has hit the nail on the head by serving high quality, made to order wraps and salads sourcing all natural and organic ingredients when possible. They also offer Ecotainers and cornstarch based utensils for all to-go packaging.

The menu’s specialty salads, especially the Antioxidant Orchard and Lemongrass Chicken salads, are incredible and are quick making the chopshop a favorite among celebrities, like LeAnn Rimes and her husband, Dean, who I spied in there while in line. If you don’t come for the amazing and reasonably priced fare, come in for the cute chef and friendly staff or just to support a company that is running their business responsibly.

Natural, Organic, Biodynamic - What’s the Difference?

Emma Pezzack — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:49:33 +0000

The organic & natural beauty market is increasingly saturated with new brands and products, and growing confusion about what’s ok for you and what’s not. Now seems like a good a time to provide a basic outline of what you need to know. In the posts to follow I’ll cover these in more depth but here’s a good starting point:

Natural: Widely defined as any substance harvested or derived from nature and then isolated, processed or purified by a variety of environmentally sound techniques including filtration, fermentation, distillation, expressing and other like processes.

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Confused Over All the New “Eco-Labels?” Here’s Help

Beth Bader — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:11:53 +0000

Antibiotic free, cage free, biodynamic, grass fed, pastured, fertilized, free range, free roaming, free roaming, free running, irradiated, natural, no hormones, no chemicals administered, pasteurized, vegetarian fed, high-Omega 3, whole grain fed. All of these labels have been used just to market eggs.

In fact, eggs are the product with the most “eco labels” of all reviewed by Consumer Reports. How do you navigate the sea of label terms and find out what they really mean?

Consumer Reports offers an Eco-labels Center that has tools like a virtual kitchen that shows users common foods and the labels associated with them, some of which were new to me. Did you know wine can include a “salmon-safe” label, for example?

The site also offers three different ways to search for label definitions; by “label” including label term, logo, label index and label category; by product category including food, household cleaners, personal hygiene, and wood/paper; and by certifiers, the organization or program that validates the label claim.

Biodynamic Wine in Napa Valley: Where Green is the New Red.

Sharon Troy — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:20:06 +0000

Though I’ve lived in the Bay Area for three years, I don’t drive, and so this past weekend marked only my second trip up to Wine Country. I had some friends in from out of town, and when choosing our itinerary my only requirements were that we visit a few green wineries.

As a friend pointed out to me though, you’re almost more hard-pressed to find wineries that don’t have some sort of green aspect to them, these days. From solar panels, to wind energy, to organic growing standards, wineries are becoming more and more eco-friendly every day.

There are a number of resources on finding green wineries in California. The Bay Area Green Business Program lists wineries both in Napa and Sonoma counties that meet their requirements. You can check out this sustainablog post rating some Bay Area wineries. And though this winery guide from Green Girls LA is a few years old, it’s still fairly accurate and comprehensive.

Of the wineries my group stopped at this past weekend, my favorite by far was Grgich Hills Estate in Rutherford, CA. Don’t let the difficult to pronounce name deter you; Grgich Hills is the only winery in Napa Valley that features exclusively biodynamic wines. When you first start explaining biodynamic processes, you’re met with a lot of skepticism. (As soon as I said “cycles of the moon” I could see eyes rolling in my group.) Fortunately our server at Grgich was able to explain it in a very practical way.

Biodynamic wineries are, by definition organically certified, they just take it a few extra steps. Because they remove any chemicals from the process, they look at their vineyards as ecosystems, taking a holistic approach to the way they care for the land and their crops. A particularly interesting practice involves burying a cow horn filled with manure in the soil. It sounds almost like witchcraft, but in fact it adds calcium and other nutrients to the soil in an efficient way. (Read more about the biodynamic philosophies and processes on Grgich’s website. They’ve also recently gone solar.)

Ok, so solar panels, compost, that all sounds great… but how does it taste?

Perhaps it’s my particular palate, but the wines we tasted at Grgich were my favorite of the day. I love Zinfandels, and the ones we sampled here were fantastic. We took home a bottle of their 2005 Zin, and were also treated to an off-the-menu sample of Miljenko’s Old Vine Zinfandel, grown from vines over 100 years old. Both my husband and I who normally have very different tastes in wine agreed that it was our favorite of the day. Unfortunately, though, The release was very limited, and we tasted the last drops of it before it sold out.

I’m no wine expert by any means, so I love visiting green wineries like this, where the staff are more likely to discuss soil quality and cover crops with me, than try to woo me with tasting notes. Although, that being said, I can’t wait to try a glass of my fruit forward Zinfandel alongside a plate of pasta with tomato sauce… Mmm…

For more wine-related posts on Green Options, check out:

Wine, Tea, and TV Dinners: “The Green Does Food”

Drinking Carbon Neutral - America’s Greenest Winery

Wining about Global Warming

The Green Options Interview: Gerald Prolman, CEO of Organic Bouquet

Victoria Everman — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:38:49 +0000

Organic Bouquet was formed in January 2001 with the goal to establish the national market for organic flowers. They have accomplished this by encouraging both small and large flower growers to initiate organic production while creating widespread trade and consumer awareness of the need for organic flowers. Their ultimate goal is to protect the environment and improve farm worker safety by eliminating millions of pounds of toxic pesticides from agricultural usage. Organic Bouquet has quickly become the market leader in organic flowers and is recognized in the trade as having established the natural products industry’s newest category–organic floral. Their flowers are available online and in some of your favorite natural food stores, including Whole Foods Markets nationwide.

Gerald Prolman, CEO of Organic Bouquet, has a long and successful history of developing and introducing innovative organic perishables products on a large scale. His previous company, Made In Nature, was the first to successfully market a line of organic produce under a brand to mass-market retailers in the United States. During the early 1990s, Prolman’s commercialization of organic fruits and vegetables resulted in the conversion of more than 10,000 acres of land to organic production in the U.S. and abroad. In 1994, Prolman sold Made In Nature to Dole Food Company, an event that was the catalyst for exponential growth of the organic category. Prolman began Organic Bouquet with no supply of product, no apparent demand and very little money. He started the company just as the dot.com boom came crashing down, and investors were extremely reluctant to entertain new business ideas. Undaunted by the challenge, Prolman was convinced that if he could create the supply, he would awaken the inherent demand among consumers concerned about the effects of chemicals on farm workers and the environment.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Gerald recently about his progress and accomplishments with Organic Bouquet, helping to establish a new type of floral certification, living a vegetarian lifestyle, the purchase of Organic Style from Rodale, and even more. Read on to find out more about this revolutionary company and its dynamic founder.

Green Options: Having previously helped to establish exponential growth in the organic produce category with your previous company, what lead you to believe that flowers were the next thing in green?

Gerald Prolman: The floral category had been overlooked by the natural products retail sector. At that time (2000), there was no commercial supply of organic flowers to distribute on a national scale. Awareness for the need for organic products beyond food was minimal. I used to hear all the time "Why organic flowers, we don’t eat them?" Most people didn’t realize that a significant amount of chemicals are used to grow flowers. People gravitated to organic products initially for personal health concerns over pesticide residues in their foods, but there is more to organic than healthy foods. Organic is an environmental farming method that applies to all areas of agriculture whether it is tomatoes, cotton or flowers. I believed that people would make a responsible choice in their floral purchases if an organic alternative was made available. That is what I set out to do.

GO: In an interview last year, you mentioned that OB had a new major organic development in Mexico - how was that progressed?

GP: The grower in Mexico is still testing and perfecting organic farming methods before he imitates a large-scale organic project. Other growers in California, Oregon, Holland, Israel, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Colombia are in varying stages of development from recent start-up to full scale production.

GO: Organic Bouquet helped to establish Veriflora certification; how does this system differ from USDA Organic standards?

GP: All the flowers we sell are grown in a manner that is gentle on the earth and safe for the farm workers, wildlife, and the ecology. We feature flowers that are grown under certified sustainable farming practices, including Organic and Veriflora. Organic is regulated and defined by the USDA, and refers to an ecological farming system that builds rich, fertile soil, and utilizes natural defense mechanisms to combat pests and plant diseases. Organic is specifically an environmental farming method, but does not address the social or ecological aspects involved in farm management. Also, there are significant challenges commercial growers face, like pests and fungus, that can easily wipe out entire crops, so a grower cannot blindly start an organic system without the proper tools and information to address the many real crop threats that growers face.

After meeting with dozens of growers in more than five countries, and seeing that there were numerous eco/green certification programs to meet the needs of a variety of markets and different considerations around the world, it was clear that not one standard, including organic, addressed all the complicated issues surrounding the floral trade. I thought that the industry and consumers would be well served to have a standard that helped growers get on a path to becoming organic, and at the same time address all the issues concerning the environment and well-being of the farm workers.

So, having known about Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), an accomplished developer of sustainability standards and certification programs, I approached them to see if they would take on the task of developing a standard for the fresh-cut flower trade. They agreed, and then I organized a group of industry leaders including growers, wholesalers, retailers, and industry experts, to serve in an advisory capacity providing guidance in the creation of the Veriflora standards. We now have a comprehensive standard that accomplishes our objectives. Veriflora is America’s first Green Label certification standard for the floral industry. Although the standard is not organic and does allow limited low-impact synthetics on a case-by-case basis, it requires basic organic practices, with specified transition times to help a grower become fully organic over time. The standard also addresses many other essential issues relating to sustainability management practices, including water resources, ecosystem protection, management of wastes and hazardous materials, social responsibility, packaging materials, energy resource management, product quality and traceability.

I believe that the market introduction of Veriflora certification will lead to a future in which retailers will insist that all flowers they merchandise will be sourced from farms that maintain the highest social and environmental standards. This will cause a tipping point, and drive a complete shift in horticultural practices. Our goal is to offer flowers to consumers that meet duel certifications including both certified organic and Veriflora. We have numerous projects in the works and plan to fully achieve this goal by 2009.

GO: How has Organic Bouquet helped to develop organic US flower growth?

GP: The goal was to establish the market for organic flowers where commercial supply was non-existent and consumer awareness was minimal. For the past seven years, Organic Bouquet has been devoted to organizing a regionally diverse network of growers. This has involved creating supply in several countries while stimulating demand on a national scale. As a result, increasing supplies of eco-flowers are emerging from flower-growing regions around the world, and consumers today are asking retailers to carry certified flowers. I am glad to see there are a lot of people doing good work in this area, and I am quite proud that OrganicBouquet.com is at the forefront of this movement.

GO: It has also been mentioned that you are a vegetarian, a diet that significantly treads lighter on the earth. What drove you to transition to this lifestyle and how do you prevent meaty temptations?

GP: It’s a long story, and a gross one, but you asked. I will give you the short version, though, and can best describe my transition to vegetarianism as an evolution of my own development and awareness.

I used to eat animal and fish products. I started working in a kitchen, and, at a young age, became a professional chef and learned how to cook them; in fact, I owned a natural meat and poultry business that I started 29 years ago. In that experience, I picked up my products in slaughterhouses and was horrified and disgusted by what I saw. Nonetheless, it seemed sort of normal, and I accepted the process as it was considered by most a morally acceptable practice. I did not know anything different. Nonetheless, my conscience was always bothered. I have a close friend who was, and still is, a vegetarian and he told me a scary thought many years ago: that I was eating "dead flesh," and that I was putting a product of "death" in my body. This notion really creeped me out, but old habits are hard to break.

The shift for me happened on one day when I was reading to my nearly three-year-old son Julian a children’s story about farm animals. I stupidly mentioned to him as I was turning a page that had nice sweet pictures of the animals that for my job, I used to sell those animals for people to eat. I don’t know why I did that, but he then started to cry and told me with tears running down his face, "Papa- never read me this story again." I became a vegetarian at that moment, and have been that way for the past 17 years. I have never had a temptation since, although I did think that I liked the taste of smoked salmon, but have happily replaced the prized topping of my bagels and cream cheese with smoked tofu, and I am totally happy. That said, I am working towards becoming vegan now, so the cream cheese will soon have to go. This is a tough one.

GO: Organic Bouquet acquired the Organic Style brand from Rodale last month. How do you plan on developing the company in comparison to the previous incarnation of Organic Style magazine?

GO: OrganicBouquet.com will continue to build the eco-floral market, under the Organic Bouquet Brand, and is now expanding beyond flowers. We have purchased the Organic Style brand from Rodale for this purpose. Organic Style will launch an Eco-Living Portal in advance of the 2007 holiday season, to offer flowers, gifts, and a range of products across multiple categories including gourmet organic foods, gifts for gardeners and nature lovers, travel accessories, bed and bath, apparel, cosmetics and body care, fair trade artisan crafts, home decor, and gifts for the eco-pet. All the products sold on the site will be either certified organic, transition to organic, bio-dynamic, sustainable, Fair Trade or a new category we call "not certified but worthy." We will introduce a vetting system for the products we market, and only promote products that have exceptional social and or environmental benefits.

We are aiming for Organic Style to become the new ‘eco-lifestyle’ destination for people seeking high-quality products that encourage the well-being of the planet and humankind. To help get the word out, we plan re-launch the Organic Style magazine in the second quarter of 2008. We plan to initially publish the Organic Style magazine quarterly and offer it as a free OrganicStyle.com customer benefit. As we gain experience publishing the magazine, we will explore further distribution plans. The magazine will offer readers a sense of source by making a direct connection with the producers of organic and artisan products. We want to give our customers information that will be valuable in their lives, that will help them make informed decisions about a balanced and responsible way to live and celebrate life. After all, encouraging life is the essence of the organic farming principle.

GO: When shopping for flowers online or in-stores, what certifications should we look for?

GP: "Organic" under the USDA label or an accredited USDA organic certifier i.e. QAI, CCOF (there are many now), "bio-dynamic" under the Demeter label, and "sustainable" by Veriflora.

GO: What do you say to the folks that still believe global warming is just a myth?

GP: You got to be kidding! What cave did you crawl out of? Maybe I would be a little more polite and suggest they see Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth or Leonardo DiCaprio’s The 11th Hour.

GO: Do you have any other nifty, secret projects in the works that you could hint at?

GP: Yes we have dozens of exciting projects in the works, but we will report on them in our monthly newsletters as they materialize. All our efforts lead towards a day when there is no tolerance for any agricultural product that is not responsibly grown. We want to quickly see organic supplies increase, and the market support its growth. This will benefit farm workers, the farm owners, retailers and consumers. It is my hope that as soon as possible, sustainable practices become the standard: that the floral industry completely eliminates the use of harsh chemicals, the well-being of farm workers is first and foremost, and that the growers who take these steps will be rewarded by a market that supports them.