5^th generation farmer, Anthony Bauer, grew up on the very property where he now grows many delicious organic produce lines, and he welcomed us out to take a tour of his Lockyer Valley farm.

After decades of growing conventional vegetable crops, the soil on Anthony’s soil was lifeless and compacted and it was becoming a challenge to achieve high quality produce and yield. It was from here he started researching how to improve soil health to guarantee a future for the farm and continue supplying top quality produce for Australian consumers well into the future.

Anthony’s research into soil health led him down a path into the organic farming industry. He found that a large part of organic farming is trial and error and it takes time to perfect the process. With his determination to succeed he began to see the difference in the health of his crops and the quality of his soil and he now understands the benefits that organic farming has to offer.

It wasn’t that long ago that our produce was all organic. We’re going back to how it used to be, however there is now a lot of science behind it – Anthony Bauer

Anthony is now committed to working with the environment to create a better farming future. He strives to leave the farm in a better condition for the next generation of Bauer’s by focusing on soil health, land regeneration and biodiversity protection.

Anthony is a key grower for the One Harvest group, producing organic beetroot that is cooked, peeled and packaged into Woolworths Macro Organic Beetroot and Organic Love Beets available in Coles and independent supermarkets. He also produces organic carrots used in stir-fries, coleslaws and salad kits.

As consumers become more conscious and educated about food processes and ingredient origins, the demand increases for all natural, sustainably produced food. Organic vegetables, like that grown by Anthony Bauer and his team at Australian Organic Co, are natural, authentic and nutritionally beneficial to both the consumer and the land on which it’s grown.

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With their daughter weighing in at just a kilo, Tammy and Dave took a holistic approach to both their own health and that of their newborn by taking the steps to develop a cleaner farm and environment for all. The transition to becoming fully certified organic growers took 3 years, and since then the team at Black Crow Organics have worked hard to fine tune their organic methods, crop yields and quality.

Black Crow Organics supply One Harvest with organic cabbage used in products made for major retailers, Coles and Woolworths, and are well known within the industry for their potatoes, broccoli and other vegetable lines. Tammy encourages consumers to take the taste test between organic and conventional lines, ‘You’ll notice the difference’.

Although the lifestyle is tough and at times Mother Nature can bring challenges, Tammy and Dave both share a passion for growing natural, authentic and organic produce that consumers can enjoy with their families around the dinner table.

The work that goes into delivering quality produce is much more than just growing the plant itself – a healthy plant needs healthy soil and that means nurturing their land well before seedlings are planted. The love and care that Black Crow Organics put into their soil health is reflected in their delicious and nutritious produce.

Tammy and Dave are extremely proud of their high quality organic food that so many Australian’s enjoy each and every day! ‘There’s nothing more rewarding than sitting down for a meal and knowing you and your team have grown this’, says Tammy.

With the organic industry growing as whole, the team at Black Crow Organics are committed to delivering Aussie families with the very same high quality and tasty produce they serve to their family every day.

The post Tammy encourages you to take the taste test and buy some organic today appeared first on One Harvest.

Desley’s interest in organics began as a learning opportunity – it was so different to the conventional way of farming she’d known and loved for years. Farming is challenging in itself, and organic farming can be especially tough at times, but Desley began to realise that the learnings used from nurturing their organic crops was transferrable into their conventional lines, increasing crop yields and improving product quality. The technology utilized in the modern organic produce industry is something Desley says would really surprise consumers and she believes it’s an industry to get behind.

Desley began her farming journey in a seedling nursery back in 1993, expanding into vegetable crops in 1997 and then into baby leaf in 2007. Wilamay Farms has been supplying One Harvest with baby leaf and vegetables for more than a decade and has grown to become one of our key grower partners. As a partnership, Wilamay Farms and One Harvest have grown and developed farming practices and produce varieties to assure supply of a large variety of fresh cut salads and vegetables to Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Metcash stores across the east coast of Australia.

Seeing the consumer demand increase for natural, authentic and organically grown food and produce, Desley and the team began their journey into becoming an accredited organic grower back in early 2016.

Organics are amazing in that, some of the most simple and natural products can help to grow a quality crop, not to mention the flavour is awesome! – Desley Jackwitz.

Although farming can be a challenge, Desley loves the rewards it offers – being outside, watching her crops grow, and knowing that she’s helping to feed great quality produce to Aussie’s every day. Wilamay Farms is supported by a hardworking team who share the same love and passion that she does for supplying the nation with nutritious and delicious produce, no matter the conditions or challenges.

The Australian Organic Market Report 2019 showed that the overall number of households saying they had purchased at least one organic product in 2018 had increased to 65%. With more shoppers buying organics more often, Desley and the team at Wilamay Farms are ready to continue growing their supply of high quality, fresh organic salads to Aussie consumers.

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OneHarvest, which supplies national supermarkets Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and Metcash with baby spinach and leafy salad mixes, has reported sales declines across the category in recent weeks, due to a shift in purchasing behaviours in light of the Coronavirus outbreak.

At a time when supporting the immune system is most vital, dark leafy greens such as fresh spinach leaves can provide Australians with vitamin C, A, K and B2, folate, calcium, magnesium, manganese and iron.

Lorraine Gaffney APD, senior dietitian at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital, explains ‘it’s more important than ever to ensure a balanced diet rich in dark leafy greens, fresh fruits and vegetables.

‘Whole foods that are as close to the source as possible are the ones that will best support the immune system. Foods that contain vitamin C, zinc, magnesium and prebiotics are ideal, and baby spinach ticks all of these boxes’ she said.

Australian lettuce growers across Victoria’s Gippsland and Queensland’s Lockyer Valley are facing a double blow as foodservice sales diminish in light of the hospitality shutdowns.

Nelson Cox from Riviera Farms in Lindenow, Gippsland states ‘We have an abundance of baby spinach and mixed lettuce leaves that are ready to be picked, and a bunch of Aussies in need of a robust immune system. Now, more than ever, is the time for people to be eating spinach!’

OneHarvest managing director Sam Robson explains, ‘our farmers have been through drought, bushfires and now the Coronavirus. We are calling on Australians to show their support and remember that when it comes to the immune system, fresh is best,’ he said.

Easy ways to incorporate baby spinach into the diet include:

• Sneak spinach into spag bol sauces, curries, soups and stews for an extra nutrient boost
• Make two spinach and ricotta quiches, one for now and one to freeze for later
• Try to incorporate a side salad with every meal, or better still, make the salad the main event
• Add leafy greens to meals heavy in processed carbohydrates to improve the nutritional profile of the meal
• Add a handful of baby spinach to morning juices and smoothies

The bagged lettuce that OneHarvest supplies to supermarkets has been machine-harvested, packed and sealed to ensure a safe product.

OneHarvest is a multi-generational family business that was born out of Queensland’s Ipswich markets. For further information visit www.oneharvest.com.au.

Courtney Chapman   |   Grapevine PR   |   courtney@grapevinepr.com.au   |   0419 883 208   |  03 9521 2784

The post Aussies miss out on vital nutrients from fresh produce as eating habits move towards pantry staples appeared first on One Harvest.

But first lets recap the benefits:

They are nutrient dense, low calorie and high percentage of water content. Ever get annoyed when spinach pretty much disappears when you cook it? Well this is because of the high water content. But regardless of water, greens are packed with nutrients that are important for a healthy diet.

Greens are extremely high in vitamin K; this is the vitamin that is vital to help your blood clot when injured. If you are taking blood-thinning medication it is advised to monitor your vitamin K intake to avoid counteracting the medication.

Greens such as spinach and kale are also very high in nitrates. These have been shown to moderate blood pressure, several human studies have even linked consumption of spinach with lowering blood pressure. Nitrates have also shown to decrease a person’s risk of heart disease.

Every process or reaction that occurs in our body produces a by-product of free radicals.These are ‘stress’ molecules that need to be dissipated. Well greens can help with just that. They are packed with antioxidants, which neutralise the free radicals. The antioxidants found in greens have been linked with anti aging, cancer prevention and maintaining the levels of ‘stress’ on the body.

Now you know just how healthy they are, here are a few ways to make them interesting for the whole family. 

1. Roughly chopped spinach and kale and mix it through hot meals. The small pieces are much more manageable for small kids. This also helps to dilute the bitter flavour, and get them used to the taste.
2. Talk to them about why we eat foods that are good for us. -Its best to be honest instead of hiding food to ensure there isn’t any mistrust. It might be easier to just hide vegetables in your kid’s food but this does nothing for their relationship with food. Talk to them openly about the benefits and why we eat foods that are good for us.
3. Add it to their smoothies;the green smoothie (link) is a great one to start out as it has the sweetness from the mango that they love so you can’t taste the greens
4. Use fun names for your food based off fictional characters. Etc when you make them a green smoothie nickname it the HULK smoothie, or for pesto pasta –why not green lantern pasta! This is a great way to have a little fun with food and encouraging them to eat it. Why not even challenge them to come up with fun names for their food based on their favourite characters!
5. Serve greens up with their favourite foods. And then don’t pressure them from the greens. Instead sit next to them and eat the same thing–it is all about modelling the behaviour to them. This has actually proven to work to get kids to try new food over time. Bare with it, it won’t happen over night.

So what is stopping you! Stop into your local supermarket and pick up our new 280g bag of spinach and kale to start getting creative.

The post The best way to get your whole family eating their greens appeared first on One Harvest.

You’re under a lot of pressure! You need to save time and money while you’re nourishing yourself and your family. The answer – meal prep! When you first think meal prep, it’s hard to not assume you have just allocated half your weekend to the job you dislike the most. But it doesn’t need to take up this much time. A few simple tweaks to your routine will allow you more free time during the week.

Plan it

If you know what you are cooking each night of the week and which day you are grocery shopping it takes the load off trying to decide what to eat at the end of the day. It allows you to plan your shop so you don’t have to run back to the grocery store 3 times a week because you forgot the key ingredients.

Life is unexpected and there is always something that pops up when you least expect it. If you have the ingredients and know what you need to do, it allows you to stick to your meal plan without the added layer of stress.

Chop and Prep

Half the battle with cooking a healthy meal is taking the time to cut up all the vegetables you are using. You would be amazed at the time you save by doing this at the beginning of the week. What’s even better is you can buy precut veggies, stir-fries and salads and the hard work has already been done for you! Try our recipe for Crispy Tofu and Soba Noodle Salad ready in just minutes.

There is nothing better than coming home at the end of the day and being able to throw all the ingredients straight in the pan to make a delicious meal! There’s less washing up during the week and you’ve added an extra 20 minutes back into your day.

Double the meal

If you are anything like us, on a weeknight you’re thinking of food, shower and sleep. You wake up in the morning with little time to get everyone out the door and you certainly don’t have time to prepare an exciting lunchtime menu! When we are time poor it’s easy to make poor food choices and often rely on the local café or takeaway shop for lunch on the run. For a simple solution, simply double the ingredients you are cooking for dinner the night before to have a delicious homemade lunch leftover for the next day! The recipe for Spring Goats Cheese Pasta stores well and reheats in minutes for a wholesome meal.

There are also so many prepacked salad lunches available in the supermarket. From fresh, classic Caesar Salad Bowls to creamy pasta salads – the menu options are endless. It all comes back to planning your menu before the week starts so your lunch isn’t an afterthought.

Premade snacks

We have come to the realization that the 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm munchies are inevitable.

The key is to be prepared with some healthy and prepared options so that you don’t reach for the mid-afternoon chocolate bar to stem your cravings.

You can easily prepare a some pre-portioned healthy snacks for the week ahead in less than 10 minutes – energy balls, popcorn, cut fruit and veggies or yoghurt slices are some quick and easy ideas. Try our favourite recipe for Love Beets Raw Donut Holes.

The post Simple Meal Prep Hacks to give you more time back in your day appeared first on One Harvest.

It is understandable why the New Year is filled with messages like this. It is the time we set our goals for the New Year; it is the opportunity to start afresh. But when it comes to health there are no quick fixes or sustainable diets that help us reach those goals, instead it is best to implement a few small changes to your lifestyle. Here are our top lifestyle changes to get you on track to your New Year Goals:

1. Focus on adding in the greens

The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend consuming 5 serves of vegetables. Just one cup of leafy greens (or ½ cup cooked leafy greens) is a single serve. They are packed full on essential vitamins and minerals to help your body function at its best, from fiber to assist your digestive system to vitamin E for good eyesight.

2. Start your day with breakfast

You have probably heard it before, but breakfast really is one of the most important meals of the day. While you are asleep, your body has been starved; it has used its energy stores to fuel your body, thus it is important to refuel those stores first thing. Breakfast is a great time to get in extra veg and protein to really give you the best start. Why not try spinach pancakes, wilted spinach with eggs and toast or even just grate some zucchini or carrot into your oats!

3. Include a source of protein in your snacks

Protein helps us to stay fuller for longer, so by making sure you have a source of protein with all of you snacks it will help to cure those cravings and stop us for reaching more. Some of the best protein filled snacks are: veggie sticks with hummus, boiled eggs, cottage cheese and beetroot on crackers, a handful of nuts or a smoothie with a little added protein powder.

4. Increase your incidental exercise – summer is the best time for it.

Instead of setting unreachable exercise goals, start with trying to increase your incidental exercise to get yourself moving more. The best way to do this is by catching public transport to work, and walk to the bus or train, walking your children to school. This could even look like taking those few extra loads to take the groceries into the house. These might not all work for, but look at where else in your life you could ditch the car and get in a little extra walking.

5. Keep meals simple

Eating healthy doesn’t mean 20 ingredients in every dish. The trick is, especially at this busy time of year, to keep your meals simple. Instead of fancy ingredient think of what herbs and spices you already have in the cupboard that could take your veggies or fish to the next level.

But most of all quit the guilt around food. It is not the enemy; it is there to be enjoyed with family and friends and to nourish our bodies!

The post Starting Fresh – the 5 steps to get back on track this New Year appeared first on One Harvest.

1. Include a source of protein

Protein is an essential macronutrient that helps you to stay fuller for longer. Protein take the body a lot longer to break down, meaning that it is a slow release of energy. Keep it lean with delicious chicken breast or fresh fish, salmon is our favourite for those added benefits of healthy fats! Most aussies actually eat too much protein, keep your portion size small and eat it regularly throughout the day as protein can’t be stored in the body.

2. Include something green

Load on the greens. Whether it be spinach, mixed leaves or rocket greens are low in calories and packed full of benefits. They are a great way to fill up your plate and give you a good dose of phytonutrients, antioxidants and vitamins.

3. Include those wholegrains or starchy carbs

This isn’t a time to shy away from wholegrains. Try and include a source of wholegrains on your plate every day. Whether it be brown rice, quinoa, freekeh, sweet potato or our much-loved LOVE Potatoes. Carbohydrates are an essential macronutrient in our diet that provide us with the energy and fibre we need! Aim to fill ¼ plate with wholegrains or starchy carbs.

4. Fill up half of your plate with fruits and veggies

Keep it colourful and the vitamins and minerals will follow! Don’t know what we are talking about? Read out latest article on ‘Eat the Rainbow’ to get the downlow on the colours of your favourite vegetables!

5. Load up on the healthy fats

Yes fat can be healthy, and no fat won’t make your fat! Healthy fats are great for brain health, even being linked to reduced risk of Alzheimer’s. Try and include one source of healthy fats on your plate at every meal time – our favourites: avocado, salmon, almonds, walnuts, pinenuts, extra virgin olive oil.

6. Add flavouring in the forms of herbs and spices.

The best way to pack in the flavour without adding on the calories is herbs and spices! Get creative in the kitchen and try out new combinations!

The post How to Build a Balanced Plate appeared first on One Harvest.

Well… chips might not be the healthiest food, especially when they are fried in oil opposed to oven baked, like our favourite wedges.

But that doesn’t mean that all potato dishes are unhealthy. There are a lot of myths associated with potatoes that often give them a bad name in the wellbeing space. But we’re here to clear up a few things and debunk those myths.

#1 Potatoes are empty calories

It’s a common belief that potatoes are only carbs and they don’t contain any of those important micronutrients – vitamins and minerals.

First up carbs, fats, protein, vitamins and minerals should never be labeled bad. In some proportion, they are all required by our bodies to function.

Potatoes do contain carbs, but that doesn’t make them empty calories. They are also loaded with other minerals and vitamins.

#2 Potatoes are high in Carbs, which make you gain weight

Yes potatoes contain carbs, so do lettuce leaves, green beans and kale – carbs are not the enemy. Carbohydrates are the only source of energy that the brain can use. Without out them the body can enter into ketosis, which in the long term can have negative side effects.

Recent research actually suggests that there is no beneficial outcome in a low carb diet compared to a high carb diet for weight loss. The truth is, at some point over the last few decades each macronutrient has been blamed and named by society to ‘make us fat’. Just a few years ago, fat was that enemy – and now it is seen as the answer to all our health problems.

There is no evidence suggesting that there is an association between the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease and intake of potatoes. So to keep a long story short – keep eating potatoes, because your brain needs them and they are delicious!

#3 All Nutrients are in the Potato Skin

It is an age-old myth that all the nutrients are in the skin of any fruit or vegetable. In fact the only thing you are losing out on when you peel them is a small amount of fibre, which potatoes are incredibly high in anyway! Potatoes, skin or not, are an excellent source of vitamin C, B6, carbohydrates, potassium and so much more.

#4 Potatoes have a High Glycemic Index, which spikes your blood sugar and makes you gain weight

In theory yes, potatoes do have a high Glycemic Index, which in turn means they raise your blood sugar and insulin levels. And as insulin promotes fat synthesis this would indicate that high GI foods make you gain weight and low GI foods make you lose it.

However, there is no evidence to support the theory that high GI foods make you gain weight. The other fact that blows this myth out of the water is that we rarely eat just a plate of potatoes. In reality, they are served alongside a portion of protein and other high fibre veggies, which can slow the blood glucose response.

#5 Potatoes contain starch, which is really bad for you 

Yes, potatoes do contain starch, but that doesn’t make them bad for you. Let’s review the facts.

Your body breaks down starch in foods and releases it as free glucose into your blood – this process takes a lot of time and digestive energy. But potatoes are also rich in fibre which is a key player in slowing down the rate at which starch is broken down and, even more, reducing the rate at which glucose enters your blood stream.

So what does this mean? Starch rich foods that are also high in fibre (such as potatoes) are actually very healthy and provide a long lasting drip release of glucose into the blood stream to provide consistent energy and prevent fatigue throughout your body.

All in all, potatoes get a bad wrap in the health department from myths that have gained strength over time! Now that we’ve debunked those myths, you can keep eating these delicious morsels as part of a healthy balanced diet!

The post Potato Myths Debunked! appeared first on One Harvest.

When you pick up your fresh produce most are unaware of the term ‘The Cold Chain’ however in the fresh produce industry it is a well noted concept that all businesses with perishable goods adheres to.

So what is The Cold Chain? To put it in simple terms it is a temperature controlled supply chain. It denotes the series of actions and equipment applied to maintain a product within a specified low temperature range from harvest to production to consumption. Anything with a temperature above 5 degrees is considered to be in the danger zone.

Why is there so much emphasis on maintaining this? Well the risks to you as the consumer start with the product beginning to breakdown and losing its shelf life to harmful bacteria beginning to form on the product. The longer the product is not stored at a safe temperature the amount and type of bacteria that forms multiplies. We have compiled our top tips to maintaining your families food safety this Summer!

Maintaining the Cold Chain

From the moment our product is harvested it is then placed into a cool room where it is stored below 5 degrees. This temperature is maintained right up until it reaches the supermarket shelf. We recommend bringing an insulated cold bag with you to the grocery store so that while the product is on its way to your fridge it has the best chance of remaining cool and at a safe temperature.

More often than not consumers are leaving their perishables from the supermarket in their car for prolonged periods. Coming into Summer it is especially important to ensure:

• Foods are not in direct sunlight on the ride home
• Foods that need refrigerating are stored in an insulated freezer bag
• Foods are only stored in the car as long as needed
• Bring an Ice brick and place it in the freezer bag for the drive home if you don’t live close to the store

It is so easy to pick up our groceries and run around town to do a few odd jobs. Plan to do your food shopping last and take it straight home so perishable food temperature is not reaching the danger zone of above 5 degrees.

Lunchbox Storage

Maintaining the Cold Chain up until lunchtime can be especially tricky when our children do not have fridges to store their food in at school. Studies have shown that many households are sending their children off to school with perishable goods without an icebrick or insulated lunchbox. We need to make sure our lunches are kept cool so that our kids food safety isn’t at risk. The most effective way to look after our children’s lunch is to:

• Keep lunchbox stored in the fridge right up until you are about to leave in the morning
• Put an icebrick in their lunchbox
• Provide an insulated lunchbox which maintains the temperature
• Ensure your child is storing their bag in the shade/inside in air-conditioning

For more information regarding how to keep your food safe, please check out The Food Safety Information Council here https://foodsafety.asn.au/

The post Maintaining Food Safety Once You Have Left the Grocery Store appeared first on One Harvest.