Evie’s Kitchen appeals to all ages

Here’s Maya, aged two, enjoying Evie’s Kitchen:

Shazzie interview

Shazzie is going to be interviewed by US raw lovely Matt Monarch on his Raw Food World Radio Show on Friday 25th September at 11.59pm UK time (7pm EST/4pm PST). Sign up now to listen to the interview – Shazzie will be answering all kinds of probing questions! There is only space for 1000 listeners so be sure to sign up quickly: http://www.rawspirit.org/shazzieinterview.html

Ecstatic Beings – pre-order now!

On 9th September 2009 (999), Ecstatic Beings: 144,000 ways to eternal ecstatic bliss, is being published by Rawcreation Ltd. Pre-order it now to get your ecstatic copy first!

What happens when two mothers reroute their brains, do their homework and carve out a new world groove? Think of a big A4 (letter sized) hypercolour Jackie Annual coffee table book for grown ups and you may be half way to realising the full glory of the world’s first right-brained book.

Featuring…Reiki is for Rockstars, The Butterfly & The Ego, Urine for a Treat, Mahogany Monogamy Monotony Monopoly, The Shellsuit Liberation Front, Kundalini Yoga gave me Cheekbones, and so much more including poems, recipes, puzzles, quizzes, and cut-out & keeps.

Follow the adventures of Colin the pink Dolfish, Miss Magic, The Doxtor, Rootina, The Ego, Porn Pig, The Superfood Fairy, Corrylin, The Ecstasy Aunts and more as they struggle and strive to find Unity, who comes surprisingly in the shape of a small blue plastic inflatable unicorn. Life was always supposed to be this surreal, and that’s why Ecstatic Beings makes more sense than anything left in Ye Olde 3D Worlde.

Pre-order your copy today!

Shazzie’s Naked Boxes

Shazzie’s Naked Chocolate has never been so popular! The UK’s first organic raw chocolate bars now come in foil-sealed wrappers for extra freshness. To compliment the new packaging, we have now introduced new Shazzie’s Naked Chocolate shelf-ready boxes, perfect for displaying the bars to full effect in shops. If you have a healthfood store, juice bar or cafe, just imagine how amazing they would look on your shop shelves!

World Breastfeeding week

1st-7th August is World Breastfeeding week, an annual event celebrating the benefits of breastfeeding & calling for further support & awareness of breastfeeding mothers. The aim of the week in 2009 is:
- to draw attention to the vital role breastfeeding plays in emergencies worldwide
- to stress the need for active protection & support of breastfeeding before and during emergencies
- to inform mothers, breastfeeding advocates, communities, health professionals, governments, aid agencies, donors and the media on how they can actively support breastfeeding before & during an emergency
- and to mobilise action & nurture networking & collaboration between those with breastfeeding skills & those involved in emergency response.

For more details, visit www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org

Ocean’s Alive

We now have Ocean’s Alive marine phytoplankton in stock. This unique super-nutrient provides the body with an abundance of naturally produced vitamins, minerals and original life force. A team of  doctors, microbiologists and botanists spent many years researching 40,000 species of marine phytoplankton to determine the best species in each category to use for bio-fuel, aqua culture, exotic fish food and ultimately human consumption. Only four species of marine phytoplankton were found to be beneficial for human consumption and based on nutritional profiles, one species was super beneficial and was the single species chosen for production.

As a result of this extensive research, technologically advanced commercial facilities have now been developed and constructed to produce marine phytoplankton in large volumes using sophisticated bio-reactors. The bio-reactors consist of extensive glass tubing interconnected in a horizontal grid the size of a football field. A ‘Spring Bloom’ environment is created that allows natural photosynthesis to occur using sunlight to grow the marine phytoplankton bio-mass. The purified sea water solution in which the marine phytoplankton grows ensures that there are no other species contaminating the bio-mass. This method produces a pure super-concentrated nutrient.

Available to order now!

Informed choice

A report commissioned by the Food Standard Agency (FSA) has concluded that organic food is no healthier than non-organic food. The research supposedly found no evidence of any additional health benefits from eating organic. The FSA said the report would help people make an “informed choice”.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine studied evidence from the past 50 years. The study did find some differences in nutrition between organic & non-organically produced food – but “not large enough to be of any public health relevance”.

No differences were found in the levels of vitamin C, iron & calcium in organic crops, meat, dairy & eggs. Differences were found in levels of nitrogen & phosphorus in organic foods, however the study put this down to differences in fertiliser usage & the level of ripeness at harvest.

The review did not look at the effects of pesticides or the environmental impact of different farming practices.

“This study does not mean that people should not eat organic food. What it shows is that there is little, if any, nutritional difference between organic and conventionally produced food and that there is no evidence of additional health benefits from eating organic food.” – Gill Fine, FSA director of consumer choice and dietary health.

Study leader Dr Alan Dangour added that better quality studies were needed. 

The Soil Association said they were disappointed with the conclusions & called for better research. “The review rejected almost all of the existing studies of comparisons between organic and non-organic nutritional differences. Although the researchers say that the differences between organic and non-organic food are not ‘important’, due to the relatively few studies, they report in their analysis that there are higher levels of beneficial nutrients in organic compared to non-organic foods. Also, there is not sufficient research on the long-term effects of pesticides on human health.”  – Peter Melchett, policy director at the Soil Association.

Many feel this report has been prematurely published. There is already a long-term Europe-wide study currently underway researching the benefits of organic food. The ongoing Quality Low Input Food (QLIF) project is thoroughly researching organic food and the results are expected to reveal positive information about organic food. Some early results from QLIF were revealed in 2007 & showed many organic fruit & vegetables contained 40% more nutrients than conventionally-grown foods, including higher levels of iron & zinc. The full results from the QLIF project are not yet published & so the FSA’s report has been issued before evidence supporting organic can be given in defence.

Prof Carlo Leifert from Newcastle Uni, who is heading up the QLIF project said in 2007: “If you have just 20% more antioxidants in every portion of vegetables, then it’s simply a question of maths – eating four portions of organic fruit and vegetables is the equivalent to eating five portions of traditional fruit and vegetables.” In a report two years ago, Prof Leifert also said there is enough evidence for the FSA to change its advice on organic food and is unsure why they have not done so - “I wonder whether it’s more to do with politics.”

“If there are really no nutritional benefits to organic food (unlikely), and we can be told that as a fact, fine. But please, Powers-that-Be, don’t damage an already disproportionately credit crunch-affected sector with what can only be seen as a premature report based on, by the author’s own admission, unreliable data.” – Organic Farmers & Growers Association.

Detox Your World only retails products which it believes in & therefore, as the UK’s leading online retailer of raw organic superfoods, firmly believes in the benefits of organic food. Not only does it taste better but it’s also common sense that eating organic produce, rather than a conventionally-grown version which may be laden with chemicals, is better for our health. The full effect of pesticides on health has yet to be seen & so a report into organic food which does not include pesticides in its research cannot really be taken seriously. We fully support our organic body, the Organic Farmers & Growers association and we know that when the results of the QLIF project & other future studies are published, the media will be able to accurately report on proven scientific results & give organic food the acclaim it deserves.

National Parks Week

27th July to 2nd August is National Parks Week. It’s 60 years since the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 was formed, which saw the creation of National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the UK. Amongst our National Parks are the Broads, the Peak District, the Brecon Beacons and the Lake District. During National Parks Week, there will be loads of special events to enjoy the past, present and future of all the National Parks. Visit the National Parks website and special anniversary Diamonds in the Landscape site for details.

Maya & the mulberries

“One sunny morning, there was a loud knock on the front door. It was the postman, with a giant bag of marvellous mulberries for Maya Moo! She put the packet on the floor and danced around it, singing that famous song about a mulberry bush… then opened the seal of the bag and delved in to taste the sweet, dainty, refreshing and very yummy mulberries! And her mummy then made a few chocolate bars with mulberries in. Mulberries were eaten all day long but by the evening, there were still tonnes left in the bag for tomorrow! Thanks Shazzie for stocking these – they are my absolute favourite!!!!” – Victoria Leith

In association with Detox Your World

Detox Your World are now sponsoring the Fresh & Live Mama’s Easy Make Kitchen series! Victoria Leith aka the Little Guru has just uploaded a new recipe – raw tomato saucy sauce: