Lifestyle Hub

A Day at Oko’a Farm

Getting directions to visit local farmer Ryan Earehart’s Oko’a Farm in Kula, Maui doesn’t include any street names or address numbers but is instead a list of agricultural references: “Drive until you see a tractor on your right.

MA‘O Farms Builds Community

A few weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to visit MA‘O Organic Farms, which is a 25-acre organic certified farm in Lualualei Valley on the western coast of O‘ahu, near the town of Wai‘anae.

Make a Difference this Earth Day!

Although Earth Day is officially April 22nd, Down to Earth will be celebrating it on Sunday April 27th with a special day of fun and music.

Life Foods: Our Favorite New Brand!

I'm very excited to introduce Life Foods, Inc., one of our favorite new brands in the store. Life Foods is a Maui-based company that makes wonderfully delicious superfood products including veggie burgers, condiments, hot sauces, salad dressings and vegetable ferments.

Sustainable Farming Trumps Industrial Methods

The need to produce more food in some regions of Asia during the past fifty years was—for a time—achieved by increasing the yields of grain crops by as much as 2.5 percent per year using industrial farming methods.

Soil is More Precious than Gold

As concern over diminishing soil quality grows in the Asia-Pacific region, natural farming methods may hold the cure.  The prime cause of soil erosion and nutrient depletion during the past thirty years is over-application of chemical fertilizer.  

The Diet Wars: Starch is Good

In many Asian and South Asian cultures, the health benefits of rice and other staple starches are well established. Lacking this cultural knowledge, many people in Western countries have bought into fad diets that encourage the consumption of high-fat protein from meat and dairy products. These diets discourage people from eating starches and carbohydrates (grains).

Vegetarianism Gaining Traction in Asia

Mark Fergusson, Chief Organic Officer (CEO/CFO) Down to Earth Organic & Natural

Plant-based diets are experiencing a resurgence throughout Asian countries as millions of consumers make the switch for religious, health, and environmental reasons. It counters the trend of increasing economic prosperity that is leading many people to adopt a western meat-based diet. Although they see it as a status symbol of affluence, the adoption of this unsustainable diet leads to ill health and disease.

Teach Children to Eat Healthy

"Young bamboo bends, old bamboo breaks.” This saying from Indian yoga philosophy illustrates how our behaviors and attitudes are more flexible in our youth than in our old age. That's why it's important that we begin teaching children how to eat healthy while they're young. Experts at the World Health Organization agree that the healthiest diet is a low-fat, plant-based diet that includes plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables in their natural, unprocessed state.

Vegetarianism: The Ahimsa Diet

Vegetarianism has a long history dating back to the early days of civilization. Particularly in India, the idea of ahimsa (nonviolence) was a basic tenet of human society. Animals were respected and protected; kings were known as the protectors of the people, janadhipa, including the animals.