Neti Pots

Looking curiously like a cross between a gravy boat and Aladdin’s magic lamp, the Neti Pot is neither a vessel you would lay on a Sunday dinner table nor one that conjures up wish-granting deities. But there is a little bit of a genie in this bottle… er, pot.

With a gentle swoosh, nasal passages are soothed and cleansed. Allergies are washed away, colds and other infections are avoided — in a 100-per-cent natural fashion. For allergy sufferers, those with recurring sinusitis, or anyone losing sleep because of a stuffed up nose, the Neti Pot is essential.

Klean Kanteen

When headlines began announcing that plastic water bottles might not be so safe for your health — or for the local landfill — companies like California’s Klean Kanteen were ready for it.

Headquartered In the Northern Sacramento Valley town of Chico, the fledgling firm manufactures one of the hottest new consumer must-haves: the stainless steel water bottle.

But it’s more trend than trendy that has made Klean Kanteen bottles so popular; it’s the general movement toward health — personal and environmental — that helped their business triple last year.

Mums Original

A classic commercial for Remington shavers once featured some guy you’d never heard of named Victor Kiam. But in the early 1980s, his oft-televised testimonial became the catchphrase of a generation and made him a household name.

“I liked it so much, I bought the company!”

You could say that Martine Carlina pulled a “Kiam”.

Zazubean

“All you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”— Charles M. Schulz, creator of “Peanuts”

Nature Clean Living

The Ross family didn’t start out making natural cleansers. Together with his father Frank, Bernie ran a booming industrial supply company. Sadly, Bernie’s enjoyment of his success was tempered by concern for his wife, who suffered from severe skin allergies every time she used traditional cleaning products. Eventually Bernie Sr. determined that his wife was suffering from environmental allergies and designed a pair of all-natural, hypoallergenic cleaning products specifically for her needs. Her symptoms began to improve almost immediately.

Winter's Turkeys

When Darrell Winter started working on his father’s farm in 1958, he didn’t have much of a passion for the business. Over the next several years of raising turkeys, chickens, pigs and cattle, his passive interest developed into a powerful love for farming. “I talk turkey most of the time” laughs Darrel, “It may or may not be a good thing.”

Snow Farms

When asked to share how she would encourage someone to try organics for the first time, Susan Snow pauses. “Unlike people,” she says slowly, “organics are more about what’s not in the food than what is.” It’s hard to disagree with her, considering the pedigree. Susan Snow grew up with a vegetable garden in the BC interior, and her husband Harvie helped develop British Columbia’s first set of organic standards to define and protect the province’s growing organic food industry.

Hotchkiss Herbs & Produce

When your 7-year-old daughter is quoted in the Calgary Herald saying ‘It sucks being a farmer’ most people might consider a career change. If you’re Tracy Hotchkiss of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Herbs & Produce you just shrug it off.

“It was the middle of summer, and we were busy 12 hours a day while Olivia was home with the babysitter” she explains. “What she missed was helping out; her favourite job is putting labels on bags and nobody does it as well as she does.”

Elam Organics

Catching up with Elam Wills for this interview has proven to be a bit of a challenge. Fall is just around the corner at Elam's Organics in Cawston, BC, and the team is busy getting ready, preparing the apple bins and confirming orders. During a short break, Elam reveals the reason for the rush: the first of his gala apples are ready for harvest this weekend.

Big Root Organic Farm

Billy Potash has learned organic farming grows more than produce; it creates communities. His Big Root Organic farm in Cawston is one of a dozen organic farms in British Columbia’s beautiful Similkameen Valley. Cawston is a small, agriculture-based town with two fruit packing plants, one solely dedicated to process organics.