The Appropriate Omnivore with Aaron Zober

Aaron's guest for this episode of the Appropriate Omnivore is Rich Pauwels, founder of Rich Nuts. Rich begins with his story of going from being a firefighter to selling sprouted nuts. Rich talks about the health benefits of sprouting nuts, how they improved his health and how they can improve yours. In addition to the nuts being sprouted, they're also certified organic and sourced from regenerative farms. Rich concludes with telling Aaron what it means for Rich Nuts to be a triple bottom line business.

Aaron welcomes author Alex Lewin to the Appropriate Omnivore podcast. Alex recently released the second edition of his book Real Food Fermentation. Real Food Fermentation is both a book about fermentation and a cookbook with many recipes of popular ferments. Alex delves into the books he read which led him to learning about fermentation. He discusses how with the pandemic, many people turned to fermentation. Alex even talks about the possibility of a certain ferment being able to help with COVID. Aaron and Alex then discuss how to ferment correctly, their favorite types of ferments, and foods that many don't realize are fermented.

For the latest episode of The Appropriate Omnivore podcast, Aaron Zober does something a little bit different. As Aaron attended the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim last week, he recaps the highlights. No guests. Just Aaron talking about the takeaways he discovered in terms of natural food trends and new products. What's in and out in the sustainable food world? How does the show rank in terms of meat products vs. plant products? And how does Aaron feel about all of this? Plus while no main interview, Aaron does play sound bites taken on the floor of Expo West with his favorite exhibitors saying what they thought of the show.

For his latest podcast, Aaron Zober welcomes Lisa Steele to The Appropriate Omnivore. Lisa is a fifth-generation chicken keeper and runs the blog Fresh Eggs Daily. She’s also the author of the recently released “The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook”. Aaron and Lisa discuss everything people should know about eggs: why they're good for you, what labels to look for when buying, what shell and yolk colors mean, and why you should raise backyard hens. Aaron and Lisa also talk about their favorite types of egg dishes, including some dishes you might not have heard of and foods you wouldn't necessarily think to put eggs in.

Aaron Zober welcomes olive oil professional David Neuman to The Appropriate Omnivore podcast. David has a career in the natural food industry in numerous areas from supermarkets to cereal to his long and current involvement in olive oil. David sells his olive oil through EVOOGuy.com and authored the upcoming book "Extra Virgin Olive Oil: The Truth in Your Kitchen". Extra virgin olive oil is one of the foods which is most often defective. Aaron asks David all of the question about what makes your olive oil rancid from the production of it to when it gets into your kitchen. Aaron also asks David about the labels we often see. Do they help at all in choosing better olive oil? Are some of them meaningless? Are there labels we need which aren't on the olive oil bottles? David then gets into how to find real extra virgin olive oil, including tasting it for yourself.

Aaron welcomes Dr. Nakisa Nowroozi to The Appropriate Omnivore podcast. Naskisa has a PhD is in cell and molecular biology and masters in biochemistry. She currently teaches anatomy and physiology at Orange Coast College. She also founded Nourishality, which produces grain free nutrition bars and energy balls. Nakisa gets into how she makes her treats to be the most nutrient dense by using sprouted nuts, natural sweeteners, and organic ingredients. In addition to making the bars and balls with real food, Nourishality also strives to be as environmentally friendly as possible. The products have green and net zero certifications. And Nakisa is very transparent about everything that goes into her foods. She openly tells Aaron the sources of her ingredients. All of this plus what Nakisa and Aaron see for the future of better snack food.

It’s the first Appropriate Omnivore podcast of the 2022 season. Aaron Zober kicks off the new year as one of his favorite holidays is soon approaching - Super Bowl Sunday. The day is also observed as National Pork Rind Appreciation Day, being that the football is referred to as the pig skin and pork rinds are the perfect Super Bowl snack. To discuss this wonderful carnivorous food, Aaron brings on Field Trip co-founder Tom Donigan. Tom gets into how Field Trip got started, what he looks for in terms of farmers and ranchers to partner with, and how they decide on the right ingredients for all of their products. In addition to pork rinds, Field Trip also produces jerky, meat sticks, and chickpea butter. All of their foods, both meat and veggie, make for perfect Super Bowl treats. Tom also discusses how the business has changed now that all of the co-founders have families. Plus Aaron and Tom state their choices of who they’d like to see win the Super Bowl.

For the last podcast of 2021, Aaron Zober welcomes Scott Lively to The Appropriate Omnivore podcast. Scott was working in IT before getting into the organic grass fed beef industry. He founded Dakota Grass Fed Beef and now runs the grass fed beef company Raise American. He also recently released the book "For the Love of Beef: The Good, the Bad and the Future of America’s Favorite Meat". His book covers everything about beef from the different cuts to the benefits of being grass fed. Aaron asks Scott about what inspired him to write it. Aaron then has Scott get into the parts of the book which intrigued him the most, such as if we need to worry about E. coli, the importance (or lack thereof) of all the different labels, the roles processing plants play, and what are the underrated cuts of beef. Aaron and Scott conclude things with what they see as the future of grass fed beef.

With the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) having just occurred, Aaron Zober welcomes Seth Itzkan of Soil4Climate (https://www.facebook.com/groups/Soil4Climate) to The Appropriate Omnivore podcast. Seth is an environmental futurist advocating for holistic land management in order to reverse climate change. He makes a visit to the show having just been to the U.N. Food Systems Summit where he and his team presented a paper on regenerative agriculture. After the Food Systems Summit he also attended COP26 and was able to address people there about holistic management. As he's on a program called The Appropriate Omnivore, Aaron has him address the meaty issue of why animals are needed for regenerative agriculture and reducing carbon emissions. Seth then gets into what foods we need to eat less of and what he'd like to see as the theme for next year's Climate Change Conference.

Aaron Zober welcomes Leah Segedie of the blog Mamavation to The Appropriate Omnivore podcast. Leah runs a successful blog reaching millions of American women annually about the hormone-disrupting chemicals their families are exposed to and how reduce that exposure. Recently, Leah has been focusing perfluorochemicals or PFAs as they're commonly referred to. They’re also known as forever chemicals because they build in up in your body from consuming products with them and remain in your body for several years. The first type of food Leah discovered often contains PFAs is ketchup. She then gets into other products were PFAs are found. This includes products used in food preparation or cooking, such as parchment paper and water filtration systems. Leah mentions what other types foods she's looking at examining for PFAs. Plus with Halloween having recently taken place, Aaron and Leah share what they see as better candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters.

Aaron Zober welcomes back Pam Schoenfeld of Women and Family Nutrition to The Appropriate Omnivore podcast. Pam talks about vitamin A, a vitamin which has been overlooked in terms of its importance. She gets into all of the health benefits of vitamin A, especially with vision and pregnancy. Pam says liver is the best source of vitamin A. As many people are afraid to try liver, Aaron and Pam share ways to make it taste better. Pam then talks about other animal based foods which are good sources of vitamin A and if plant foods can provide all of the needs of it. Aaron also asks Pam about getting vitamin A through supplements, whether it's through the desiccated liver capsules or the vitamin supplements themselves.

Aaron Zober brings on Tim Richards to The Appropriate Omnivore podcast. Tim recently rebranded The Philosopher’s Stoneground as Philosopher Foods. Philosopher Foods makes organic craft almond and coconut butters. Tim talks about everything almond farming. Conventional almond farming is one of the most unsustainable types of agriculture with its heavy use of water and pesticides. Tim explains though that we don’t need to give up our love for almonds as they can be grown sustainably. He then gets into how almonds have many health benefits. Philosopher Foods also produces coconut butter. While the coconuts currently used come from regenerative agriculture, Tim gets into his quest to use regenerative almonds. Plus Tim talks about issues related with using truly raw almonds and what products we can expect from Philosopher Foods in the future.

With Halloween soon approaching, Aaron Zober brings on Sweet Apricity founder Tonya Butts. Tonya had been following the paleo diet for several years. After creating a caramel which her friend on the autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet could eat, Sweet Apricity was born. Tonya has since expanded into other caramel product along with marshmallows using grass fed gelatin. Tonya talks about how she's been able to make the cleanest sweets without using refined sugar, grains, dairy, or even any emulsifying agents such as guar gum or xantham gum. Tonya then explains what she looks for in terms of sourcing her ingredients. Tonya talks as well about future plans for sourcing to make the products even more sustainable. Aaron and Tonya then discuss Halloween, the best options for eating real sweets, and what to hand out to trick-or-treaters.

On this episode of The Appropriate Omnivore, Aaron Zober delves into how restaurants are becoming more sustainable. To discuss sourcing regenerative, organic, and natural ingredients for a restaurant, he welcomes Brad Kent to the program. Brad previously founded Blaze Pizza and Olio Wood Fired Pizzeria. His upcoming restaurant Bagel + Slice will also feature pizza, but will differ with serving bagels as well and its focus on sustainability. Brad talks about how he got into the restaurant industry in the first place and how his upcoming venture is all about caring for the environment from the ingredients sourced to the energy used in the operation to the use of Ozone treatment for the restaurant. In addition, Brad stresses the importance of paying employees well, charging affordable prices for his food, and serving the Highland Park community of Los Angeles.

On The Appropriate Omnivore, Aaron Zober stresses the importance of knowing your farmer. Now Aaron makes the case to know your baker so you know the ingredients they source and the processes they take in making the baked goods. To demonstrate how to know your baker, Aaron welcomes Lisa McCullough Roark. Lisa is the founder of the Topanga Grain Company, which she sell at Aaron’s local farmers market. Lisa stresses the importance of using organic ingredients and whole grain in her bread. She goes through all of the steps in making it from milling the fresh grains to the fermentation process. Lisa also delves into the successful health stories she’s seen with her family and her customers from eating her sourdough creations plus how it's important for her to make the sourdough taste great along with being natural and healthy.