One Degree Organic Foods
An innovative company that tells you exactly the source of every ingredient in every one of their certified organic products. Go online or use your phone app to see videos of growers, pictures of farms and more. Products include ancients grains (sprouted to make nutrients more available) made into flours, breads and breakfast cereals, naturally sweetened with coconut sugar. Ingredients can also be purchased individually for home use. They also have their ingredients grown “veganic” which is organic without any animal byproducts that contain heavy metals.
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Listen to my interview with One Degree Organic Food Founding partner and Vice-President of Marketing and Sales Danny Houghton. |
Gnosis Chocolate
This is my personal #1 choice for chocolate. Not only is it delicious, but it is made with “ethically sourced RAW Cacao from Bali, Ecuador, Peru, Grenada, & Madagascar – and add low-glycemic sweeteners (including coconut sugar), nutrient-dense superfoods & medicinal herbs sourced fastidiously from the Amazon to the Himalayas.” Their products are certified Organic, Vegan, and Kosher, and are free of soy, gluten, and dairy. “The result is a functional, decadent chocolate that will delight your taste buds, awaken your senses & provide profound nourishment.” I can vouch for that! Choose from chocolate bars, truffles, trail mixes, cocoa elixers, and supplements. Use promo code “toxicfree10” for 10 percent off your purchase ($30 minimum).
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Listen to Gnosis Chocolate founder Vanessa Barg on Toxic Free Talk Radio |
CocoVia
CocoVia wholefood supplements give you all the benefits of eating chocolate, without the calories, fat, or sugar (of course, without the pleasure of eating chocolate too!). They use their own patented Cocapro process to guarantee the highest concentration of cocoa flavanols in a dietary supplement. “Cocoa flavanols are the beneficial phytonutrients (also known as plant-based nutrients) found naturally in cocoa, and no other food on Earth can match cocoa’s unique blend of flavanols. That’s why experts refer to the cocoa bean as nature’s most surprising ‘superfruit.’ When consumed daily, cocoa flavanols are scientifically proven to help support healthy circulation†, which is important for overall health as well as cardiovascular health, cognitive health, skin health, blood flow and exercise performance” You can also use this unsweetened powder in recipes that are provided on the site.
Taza Chocolate
Stone ground, organic, fair trade chocolate. “We stone grind organic cacao beans into perfectly unrefined, minimally processed chocolate with bold flavor and texture, unlike anything you have ever tasted.” High percentage cacao 95%, 87%, 80%…this is seriously bittersweet. Chocolate discs, chocolate covered treats and a lot more.
Theo Chocolate
“The first Organic and Fair Trade fair for Life Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Factory in North America…Since 2006, we’ve been making the highest quality chocolate from the world’s best cocoa beans, grown in the most sustainable ways possible.” All organic ingredients, including organic sugar. Chocolate bars with unusual flavors, caramels, confections, gift boxes.
Chocolate Bar Database
2008 chocolate bars, representing 473 chocolate makers, and counting, all indexed by name, maker, ingredients, origin, and organic, milk, no soy, and more. Most contain sugar, some contain soy, and other things you might want to watch out for, but this is such a good resource to help you find the chocolate that is right for you, or to find the ingredients of a brand of chocolate you are wondering about. Debbie and Vic have tasted all these chocolates, with a pile of wrappers for proof.
Videri Chocolate Factory
I was walking down the street in Raleigh, North Carolina and happened to find this chocolate factory that makes wonderful, simple chocolate bars with all organic ingredients. Though these chocolate bars contain sugar, I’m including them because they are otherwise free from any artificial ingredients. Organic fair trade cocoa, real vanilla beans…”No soy lecithin, no xanthan gum, no emulsifiers or artificial flavorings. Just whole, organic and fair-trade ingredients.” The handful of flavors are delicious: a good dark chocolate, a milk chocolate that’s 50% cacao, and then dark chocolate with sea salt and another with pink peppercorns. That’s it. Simple. Organic. Chocolate.
Where Your Clothing
A collaboration of farmers and manufacturers across the Carolinas dedicated to growing, making, and selling its t-shirts in the Carolinas (but you can buy them too). In particular this website outlines the entire manufacturing process of their t-shirts, from “dirt to shirt.” They even have a map where you can visit the farmers and factories where your shirt was made by finding the resources according to a color-coded thread on the shirt. Organic and non-organic cotton shirts are printed with a nontoxic process cotton. My favorite is the shirt with the “Clothing Facts” label on the from that says “Certified Organic Cotton 100% – Pesticides Used 0%.”
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Listen to my interview with TS Designs President and half-owner Eric Henry. |
ANJI MOUNTAIN
Area rugs and office chair mats made from both natural fibers—including jute, bamboo, seagrass, sisal and cork—and recycled materials (including recycled cotton). “A family business, we are founded on the principle that only sustainable uses of the earth’s natural resources can be tolerated. The astonishing renewability and versatility of natural fibers and recycled materials creates lots of new ecologically positive possibilities at a time when they are desperately needed. It’s our mission to bring these wonderful resources to as wide an audience as possible.”
Rough Linen
Gorgeous handsewn 100% bedlinens made from four different weights of linen. Plus linen curtains, tableware, and some small things like little sachet bags. “I found this homespun, hand sewn linen pillow slip while I was clearing my grandmother’s cottage in Scotland. It was made by her great-grandmother, in 1840, and was in regular use for three generations. When it came to me I used it to store lavender. Years later, by good fortune, I found a natural linen with the same wonderful texture and feel, and I decided to make bedding in this simple, elemental tradition. I wanted the feeling of connection, appreciation of good materials and handiwork which is part of my heritage, as part of my everyday life . I hope you love it as I do. With care, it should last a hundred years.”
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Listen to my interview with Rough Linen Founder Tricia Rose. |
