Organic Cooking Oil


La Tourangelle’s Grapeseed Oil is my favorite for frying. 


By Jan Walsh


Photography by Beau Gustafson

One of the most important staples in your pantry is your cooking oil. What is it? If you buy an organic potato and cook it in GMO oil, it is no longer organic food. It is a GMO potato.


Until several years ago, I had not thought much about my own cooking oils. In 2010 I was hospitalized twice within a three-month period, once in California and once in Birmingham. Both ER doctors diagnosed the episode as a seafood allergy because both days I had eaten lobster. I was told to never eat shellfish again by both doctors.

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I sleep well at night on my organic bed. 

By Jan Walsh 

Photography by Beau Gustafson 

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not just in the foods we eat, they are woven into the fabric of our lives. And as I strive to live an organic life, it includes not only what I eat but also where I sleep. 

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Most egg labels are intended to confuse you.


By Jan Walsh


Photography by Beau Gustafson


Which eggs do you buy?  With so many descriptors on the labels, you might be fooled into thinking you are buying clean, Non-GMO eggs when you purchase eggs with the following labels: all natural, farm fresh, no hormones, vegetarian diet, omega-3, cage-free, and free-range.

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Know where your meat comes from, Marble Creek Farmstead.


By Jan Walsh


Photography by Beau Gustafson


Marble Creek Farmstead is a small, sustainable family farm located in Sylacauga, Alabama. The owners Jesie and Matthew Lawrence named the farm after Sylacauga, the Marble City.


Marble Creek Farmstead grows fruits, vegetables, and flowers—all free from pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. And their forest, garden-style orchard is in the planning stages. Marble Creek Farmstead also has a line of all humanely raised, natural, pastured raised meats.  If you do not know the difference between family farms and factory farms, Goggle “factory farms,” or watch Food, Inc. documentary.

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Samuel Smith is Yorkshire’s oldest beer and USDA Organic.


By Jan Walsh


Photography by Beau Gustafson


Samuel Smith is among the few independent breweries remaining in England. They brew at The Old Brewery at Tadcaster, Yorkshire's oldest brewery founded in 1758 when its original well was sunk. The well is still used today for drawing brewing water from 85 feet underground. Traditional brewing methods have also been retained here including making its own copper, repairing its oak casks, and hand-weighing hops by the master hop blender.

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