June Company of the Month: Farming for Life.

There has been a lot of buzz lately over probiotics and why you need to take them and I am not here to argue with that, you do need them. However, what many people don't know is that you can get some probiotics from fermented food plus some. Fermented foods are the new super food! Now, just to clarify, you still need need to try and take a daily probiotic that is in a time release or enteric coated capsule to ensure it releases in the intestine and not in the stomach where a lot of them get dissolved by your stomach acid. However, if push comes to shove and you find that you can't afford probiotics, fermented foods are a good second choice.

When choosing fermented foods you really want to focus on quality, which leads me to the company "Farming for Life". "Farming for Life" is a small company located in a tiny town about an hour and half west of Fort Wayne called Argos and they are doing amazing things. "Farming for Life" operates a two acre farm where they grow organic produce that they mostly use in the production of their own fermented foods. They grow heirloom varieties and they stimulate the soils biological activity with the addition of microbial and mycorhizal mixes, enzymes, humic acids, sea minerals and high quality compost to ensure that their crops are growing in very nutrient dense soil. In the cooler months, when they are unable to grow their own, they use organic produce from reliable sources. All of this produce goes into their lacto-fermented foods and beverages.

The term lacto-fermented refers to certain yeasts that are used to convert the sugars in grape juice or grains into alcohol, it is bacteria that are responsible for lacto-fermentation. The “lacto” portion of the term refers to a specific species of bacteria, namely Lactobacillus. Various strains of these bacteria are present on the surface of all plants, especially those growing close to the ground, and are also common to the gastrointestinal tracts, mouths, and vaginas of humans and other animal species. So, what this means is that the lactobacillus bacteria is the main probiotic in fermented foods. "Farming for Life's" lacto-fermented foods include a variety of kombuchas, beet kvass, fermented lentils, fermented mexican spicy beans, a variety of kimchis, a variety of sauerkrauts and my favorite the fermented supertonic.

Now aside from the probiotics in these foods, you may be asking yourself "What's the big deal? Why do I need these foods in my diet?" Well, with these fermented foods, you get a lot of enzymes (which are essential for cellular health), enhanced digestion and anticarcinogens (the stuff that fights cancer cells). The Fermented Supertonic does all of the above plus! When you read the ingedient list, at first you think "Oh hell no", and with ingredients like horseradish, ginger, onion and habenero pepper, who can blame you. However, you only need a little bit on a daily basis and that little bit does a lot for you. The Fermented Supertonic has been shown to fight off bacteria, is an anti-viral, anti-fungal and an antibiotic. As someone who sells this stuff, I can personally tell you, customers who buy this stuff notice a big difference in how they feel when the eat/drink it. It has become a daily staple for many people.

As if that wasn't enough of a reason to check out their products, "Farming for Life" simply delivers a very high quality product that is very good for your health. For centuries, cultures around the globe have found that these fermented foods keep indefinitely in their lactic acid environment that the microbes produce. This has provided them an excellent way to have fresh vegetables year round. It is important to include these lactic acid fermented foods and beverages in our diets regularly as Weston Price found in the healthy isolated cultures that he studied. Frequent inclusion of these live cultures floods our digestive systems with a diverse array of live microbes and intact enzymes. These probiotic “condiments ” recolonize our systems and leave no space for pathogens to cause problems.

Currently, you can find "Farming for Life" products at several health food stores across Indiana, including at "Three Rivers Natural Grocery" in Fort Wayne. For more information, please feel free to check out there website at www.farmingforlife.com.