Ysanne's blog

Homemade sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is the easiest thing in the world to make, last forever, is much healthier for you than the ingredients it's made from, and is super-good when served on the side with sausages and mashed potatoes! All you need is a big glass mason jar with a rubber seal lid, a potato masher, a big plastic bowl, a knife and board, one organic cabbage, and a tablespoon of salt. Firstly, boil your mason jar to sterilize it, then set aside. Remove any outer leaves that you don't like the look of and rinse the cabbage...
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Sprouting seeds

Mung bean sprouts

My friend Erik came by my house tonight and noticed two jars with some seeds in them, both covered with water...
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Apple pie… with coconut sugar

Apple Pie with coconut sugar

Wheat-free, dairy-free and sugar-free... this is an apple pie that tastes delicious, but is so light that you can eat an enormous delicious piece and not have to worry about sugar-crashes or feeling gloopy. It has a sugar-cookie style crumb to the crust thanks to a mix of buckwheat and spelt flour, and has plenty of natural sweetness due to the organic Granny Smiths and Bosc pear it's filled with, plus some coconut sugar. Coconut sugar is a traditional organic food that's new to me, but well known in Indonesia...
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Organic news

How much money farmers get

Out of every dollar we spend at a store, only 8 cents makes it back to the farmer.
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Organic food isn’t posh

"The paradox is there's this view that organic is elitist, it's expensive, it's a lifestyle choice for people who can afford it. As far as I'm concerned it's not elitist to believe everyone should have the right to high-quality, nutritious food from sustainable farming systems. What's elitist is that a handful of corporations have got a vice-like grip on the farming systems and food." Patrick Holden, Soil Association director, rejecting claims that organic is expensive and elitist...
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Monsanto seed business role revealed

Confidential contracts detailing Monsanto Co.'s business practices reveal how the world's biggest seed developer is squeezing competitors, controlling smaller seed companies and protecting its dominance over the multibillion-dollar market for genetically altered crops, an Associated Press investigation has found. With Monsanto's patented genes being inserted into roughly 95 percent of all soybeans and 80 percent of all corn grown in the U.S., the company also is using its wide reach to control the ability of new biotech firms to get wide distribution for their products, according to a review of several Monsanto licensing agreements and dozens of interviews with seed industry participants, agriculture and legal experts. Declining competition in the seed business could lead to price hikes that ripple out to every family's dinner table...
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Recipes and books

Orange and Almond Cake

You've been asking me to post some of my wheat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free dessert recipes, so here's a recipe I adore that's free of anything like that...
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The New Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving

by Diane Morgan Published by Chronicle Books Diane knows how to bake a turkey and keep it moist and flavorful...
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Ecstatic Beings

ecstaticbeings

Kate Magic Wood and Shazzie are two of the world's leading raw food advocates. Take a look at some of Kate's raw food recipes here at OrganicFoodee...
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Your emails

Converted

Hi there, Just like to say,great website. I am now a full convert to organic fruit and veg etc. I'm addicted to the stuff. I actually have an organic box delivered each week, sort of boycotting the supermarkets these days, hardly any organic produce there these days, strange. Keep up the great work, David Tait
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Raw organic milk

I live in north East Fife, in Scotland and was brought up on raw "green top" unpasteurised milk, as it was, as nature intended. When this was banned in Scotland, I turned to ordinary pasteurised milk, but now, all milk, even organic, seems to be homogenised - but I read that in Australia, this type of milk treatment has raised health issues, mostly do with heart health...
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Organic economy

Dear Ysanne: I've recently been hearing more and more that the cost of organic food is too high (particularly in today's poor economy). My response is that if you put 3 pieces of organic fruit beside 3 pieces of non-organic fruit, the organic fruit will deliver much more on taste, flavour and nutrients. Are you hearing any of the same 'push back' on the cost/value relationship of organics? I'd be very interested in hearing more. Best regards, Kris Bovay
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