The ‘Choose the World you Want’ Fairtrade festival really gave me ‘food for thought’! Eat and drink ethically and healthily because taking good care of yourself can generate benefits in the wider world.
WORDS: Jean Hill
Buying organic produce totally makes sense if it’s within your budget because you are banishing those pesticides and chemicals sprayed on crops that can potentially linger and deplete nutrients. Fairtrade is crucially supporting harvesting and production on organic farms. The price is fair so that the process is sustainable. The plan would be to invest in these independents, so that they remain viable.
Some of the contributors to the ‘Choose the World you Want’ festival queried how much advice consumers get about a healthy, sustainable diet. Some of that advice could be: Try to eat food in season (sometimes tricky; I love avocado pears, but they are never in season in the UK). However, eating asparagus in season is totally doable. Become vegetarian (or enjoy a diet packed with more vegetables and fruit). The best pizza I ever tasted was vegan. Eat less meat (particularly red meat, which is doable). Eat less dairy (slightly trickier but doable). We, reportedly, import too much fatty/sugary processed food. Once in a while, you might feel the need to indulge in a jam doughnut or that cinnamon Danish – delish. One of my friends, who is (almost always) vegetarian, heads off for a bacon sandwich in his local café, when the mood takes him. Just try to be aware of your overall diet.
Free-range chickens are reared in a healthier environment than caged chickens and organic chicken is more expensive, but it tastes divine. My favourite dessert is Crème Brulée, and it works in spades for that feel-good factor, but it would be mad to claim it as healthy eating. As a counterbalance I adore mango, raspberries, broccoli and aubergine.
Here are some interesting options when looking for culinary inspiration…
Gusto Organic
Will Fugard, CEO for Gusto Organic, said: “We are delighted to offer a drink created with an adult audience in mind… Super DC will ensure you hit your daily reference intake of vitamins… Our new drinks are born from an age where there is a significant focus on immune support; we wanted to bring a sense of occasion to a natural vitamin drink. We think Super DC offers exceptional taste”.
High in antioxidants, Super DC contains mega doses of Vitamin D and Vitamin C known for their immune boosting properties.
These drinks also contain plant goodness in the form of elderberry, Acerola cherry and mulberry extract, a rich collection of fruit ingredients which deliver an explosion of flavours that are naturally associated with wellbeing.
Acerola cherries are one of the richest natural sources of Vitamin C in the plant world and elderberries have twice the Vitamin C of oranges and three times the antioxidants of blueberries. White mulberry also protects against free radical damage.
Super DC Blood Orange blends Sicilian blood orange juice with white grape to deliver a refreshingly zingy burst of citrus. High in anthocyanins, the blood orange is a uniquely fragrant and complex flavoured fruit that Gusto buys direct from a farm on the foothills of Mount Etna.
Super DC Blackcurrant and Elderberry combines dark complex notes of elderberry with fresh tart blackcurrant juice, with a generous glug of apple juice to sweeten. Apple juice delivers a rich flavour of the British orchard and hedgerow.
You are what you eat
Jen Mackinder at Gusto Organic has shared her research about how to keep your immune system in good condition and the vitamins that can assist. She explains how this research has informed the ingredients that make up Super DC drinks.
“Using Fairtrade and organic agave in place of refined sugar adds… costs: agave is around five times the price of sugar… Flavour, organics and ethical footprint are key. Agave has an incredible warm and luxurious nectar-like flavour, it’s a sustainable product.
“Buying Fairtrade supports a better and more sustainable method of farming that benefits not just farmers but their families and communities also.
“The provenance and source of our ingredients forms part of our DNA. Will Fugard our CEO make(s) sure the ingredients (are) ethically sourced and researched. The black elderberry we have used in Super DC is currently being trialled in hospitals and has been used for centuries to support immune systems.”
Launch of soft drink, Emunity
Two UK chemists are launched Emunity on 8th March. This is the first drink to harness what its makers say are the healing and immunity-boosting benefits of nettle and make it available in a ready to drink can.
Roy Lamb and Nasir Isaji, have infused nettle with a range of garden botanicals. Emunity is available in two flavours: Wild Strawberry and Gooseberry.
Emunity Wild Strawberry contains nettle, wild strawberries, meadowsweet, chamomile and cucumber. Evoking the taste of a summer day in the garden, this drink is packed with nutrients and antioxidants. Emunity Gooseberry contains nettle, gooseberries, dandelion, rosemary and thyme.
“The recipe for Emunity is inspired by my herbalist great-grandfather who used to create a ‘cure-all tea’ from nettle. When I looked into it, I could see why nettle was so effective.” says Roy.
Website and shop for Emunity: https://www.emunity.co.uk
Shop organic food
Abel & Cole will deliver organic food to your door-step. They believe in fewer air-miles, less packaging and sustainable food. Browse their website for a wide variety of healthy options and you can build your own box of goodies.
Matta’s International Foods, in Bold Street Liverpool, has a wide range of organic produce. This is an Aladdin’s cave full of discoveries and sometimes you find a vegetable you don’t recognise, but that tastes delicious. You can visit the store or order online.
Bettina Campolucci has created ‘The 7 Day Vegan Challenge’ cook-book. Comes highly recommended. She is a brilliant chef, and produced the best pizza imaginable, with great attitude.
So the choice is all yours. Having this added awareness has impacted on my shopping habits: I will be trying some healthy drinks, and I won’t be swerving the spinach.
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