The Food Chain

Function Drinking - Beyond Alcohol

Michael Olson with Autumn Shelton, Formulator and CEO of the start-up functional drink company TruBond.

Topics include the growing trend of functional foods; the functions targeted in the formulating of TruBond drinks; and the process of taking TruBond from concept, to packaged product, to the marketplace.

The idea is to turn away from highly stimulative drinks during the day, and the alcohol that follows at the end of the day, and turn instead to beverages formulated to provide clarity, focus and energy throughout the day.  This leads us to ask:

Can beverages be formulated to optimize the body’s daily functions?

The 1422^nd edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Autumn Shelton, Formulator and CEO of the start-up functional drink company TruBond.

Topics include the growing trend of functional foods; the functions targeted in the formulating of TruBond drinks; and the process of taking TruBond from concept, to packaged product, to the marketplace.

When exploring the islands of Tahiti with Captain James Cook, botanist Sir Joseph Banks identified a carbohydrate-rich tropical fruit that, when cooked over an open fire, tasted like freshly-baked bread. Banks recommended that King George III adopt this energy-rich breadfruit as a food staple for the English plantations of the Caribbean.

During a subsequent voyage to transport breadfruit trees from Tahiti to the Caribbean, Captain William Bly lost his ship, the Bounty, to mutineers, who tossed the prescious breadfruit trees over the side, along with Captain Bly, and then they disappeared into the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Today, breadfruit is getting a fresh look by the culinary world as a gluten-free, high-fiber, and environmentally-friendly alternative to refined flours.  In fact, researchers at the University of British Columbia claim breadfruit is poised to become the next global superfood. 

A former chemistry professor and her team have combined their efforts to continue the mission of bringing tropical breadfruit to the world via their Amasar line of breadfruit baking mixes.  Their efforts lead us to ask:

Are we ready for bread made from breadfruit?

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and ...

Mandy Harper, Founder, CEO & Executive Chef, Wholesome Bakery  ///

At the Natural Products Expo its easy to see what is the latest trend in food.

The last time I attended the Expo, which was a few years ago, the dominant trend among the 4,000 vendors was soy.  It seemed like most every vendor of natural foods was infusing their natural foods with soy. 

This year it seemed that very few of the manufacturers of natural food products were adding soy.  Gone!!!

This year it seemed most all the manufacturers were adding protein ­– This with pea protein… that with hemp protein… and over there, whey protein…

But as I cruised the exhibition halls, Wholesome Bakery of San Francisco caught my attention with a line of smartly packaged cookies.  What caught my eye was Wholesome’s positioning statement: 

“What we leave out matters as much as we put in.”

 

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and... 

Sabrina Servais,  Farmer, Hamburg Hills Farm, Stoddard, WI, Member, Organic Vallely Farm Coopertive & Elizabeth McMullen, PR Program Manager, Organic Valley Farm Cooperative

When farming alone for a distant market, farmers tend to be price takers. But when cooperating with other farmers, they may gain enough clout to become price makers.  And so we ask: 

 

How do farmers cooperate to become price makers instead of price takers?

My first MetroFarm speaking engagement was a three-day seminar for family-sized dairy farmers in Drummondville, Quebec. 

The farmers were facing a fundamental change in their dairy industry, which was then being funded via government subsidies, but that would soon be forced to compete in the open market of the North American Free Trade Agreement against the industrial giants in the U.S.

The organizer of the event, which took place in the snow-white of winter, wanted me to help the farmers find a way to survive the change.

After listening to their fears of having to compete, without support from government subsidies, I suggested they consider establishing a marketing cooperative to differentiate their Quebec milk from the commodity milk of the industrial giants. I said, “What you have is not a commodity, it is something that is truly special, but you have to sell the world on how special it is.  If you don’t, all milk is white, and whoever can produce the most white milk for the least coast will likely win the consumer dollars. That is free trade.”

Shortly thereafter, I met some folks at a farm conference in California who were doing what I advised the Quebec farmers, which was to cooperate with other farmers to gain some clout. They called themselves the Organic Valley Farm Cooperative, and they had something truly special to sell. 

Recently I ran across the Organic Valley folks at Natural Products West, and learned their coop now has over 1,800 family dairy farm members, with sales over a billion dollars per year.  Today its time to ask….

How do farmers cooperate to become price makers instead of price takers?

 

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and... 

Sally Fallon Morell, Founding President, Weston A Price Foundation and Editor & Co-Author  of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

The food trend is obvious to anyone who attended the recent Natural Products Expo in Anaheim.  Just add protein!  This trend in natural foods leads us to ask:

 

Do protein powders do a body good?

I attended the recent Natural Products Expo in Anaheim to see what I could see about the trend in food, and of course, to find stories for the Food Chain Radio – Podcast.

When I last attended the Expo, a few years ago, the dominant trend among the 4,000 vendors was soy.   It seemed like every vendor of natural foods in the hall had somehow managed to infuse their natural food with soy.  Soy was here… soy was there… soy was everywhere! 

This year I did not see a single mention of soy among the 4,000 vendors of natural food products.  Gone!!!

Most of what I did see, just about everywhere I looked, were “natural food” products that had been infused with added protein ­– This with pea protein… that with hemp protein… and over there, whey protein… Yes, it was pretty obvious to one and all that the dominant trend in natural foods is to…  just add protein. 

That protein powders are now taking such a prominent role in the nation’s diet leads us to ask…

Do protein powders do a body good?

One of the most effective ways to get rid of pesky competitors is to establish laws and regulations that make it very difficult for competitors to operate.  That leads us to ask:

How did farmers regain the right to sell food directly to consumers? 

The 1417^th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts David Sanford, Commissioner, Santa Cruz California Department of Agriculture, for a conversation about the partnership that guarantees the authenticity of Certified Farmers Markets and the foods thereof.   

Topics include how California’s small farmers won the right to sell their food directly to consumers; how the authenticity of farmers markets and the food thereof is guaranteed; and speculation as to what might be done to increase the awareness and utilization of Certified Farmers Markets.  

A FOOD CHAIN RELEASE FROM MICHAEL OLSON 

Those on both sides of the political spectrum look at what has become of the great State of California and wonder: ‘What happened?’  This leads us to ask:

Did California eat too much nonsense?

The 1415^th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Elaine Culloti, California’s “Lipstick Farmer,” for a conversation about food, trains, and her campaign to be California’s governor. 

Topics include speculation as to why California has become the nation’s “U-Haul-Ass” state; The Lipstick Farmer’s proposal to use trains to deliver food from farmers to California’s cities; and why a full audit of government is needed to determine what happened to California’s missing money. 

Show On-Demand Recording:  #1415 The Lipstick Farmer’s California Food Train

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