The website for the film “The End of the Line” asks you to imagine an ocean without fish. A very scary thought. The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival looks at the devastating affects of over-fishing. It has become big news, with chains such as Pret a Manger taking action by swapping their normal net caught tuna for pole and line caught tuna.

According to the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), 69 types of seafood available in the UK are being fished in an unsustainable way, meaning that if we don’t change our eating habits they could soon be extinct. Yet fish is good for us, we all know that – and one of the main reasons is because of its Omega 3 content.

Various studies have shown that omega-3 can decrease heart disease, help prevent arthritis and promote healthy brain functions. The government recommend having 2 portions of oily fish every week. The dilemma is that you want to get your Omega-3 but you don’t want to encourage reckless over-fishing and endanger almost 70 types of fish. There are options open to you, such as non fish based sources of Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), and this is what has not been getting as much press attention as it should (in fact, an article in the Daily Mail completely ignored their own expert by editing out her advice about Omega-3 rich seed oils). Fish is a great source of EFAs, with DHA and EPA there is no question over that. The things is, other foods, such as hemp-seed oil, flaxseed oil and to a lesser extent rapeseed oil have Omega-3 too, and they all have ALA which the body can convert into DHA and EPA (hemp seed oil also has SDA which the body can covert more efficiently). The major difference is that a good hemp seed oil like Good Oil is completely sustainable.

If eating less fish is the way to make sure we don’t create an empty ocean, just make sure you get enough Omega-3 through other sources.

Hemp is great. We’ve thought so for ages. Finally, it looks as if it is other people are realising too – the first house made of hemp is here!

It is a renewable house, made partly from hemcrete – a mixture of hemp and lime. It was built thanks to a grant from the Department for Energy and Climate Change of £200,000

The National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC), which built the home, said building it used half the energy that building a traditional brick home would use, plus claimed that energy bills for the home owners would be as low as £150 a year.

Thousands are planned – so here’s hoping that they start building soon!

Hemp is a great carbon sequester, the NNFCC estimates that 110kg (242.5lb) of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, the equivalent of a return flight from Plymouth to Manchester, for every square metre of wall.

Hemp is being grown more and more in the UK after being reintroduced about a decade ago. Traditionally every landowner in Britain had to grow hemp for rope for the Navy - but now it is used for much more interesting things! We grow it for the seeds (to make our lovely GOOD OIL), plus harvest the fibre as well to make into hemcrete (plus we sell some to BMW as they use it for their car door panels). Overall, hemp is great for the environment and wildlife whilst it grows – plus it is great for insulation when made into hemcrete. The seeds are a nutritional gem too, rich in Omega 3 & 6 plus with all 10 essential amino acids – so it really is a supercrop!

Okay, so it is raining today (it is here anyway). I’m thinking about Barbecues anyway. Just because.

Ben (Good Oil’s resident chef, and son of founder Glynis) has given me this super recipe which is perfect for a quick and easy Barbie. Yum. All we need now is some sunshine….

GOOD OIL Haloumi Kebabs with Sesame Chilli Marinade

- 2 small red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
- 1tbsp chopped, fresh coriander
- 100ml of GOOD OIL
- 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
- Juice and zest of 1 lime
- 750g halloumi cheese, cubed
- 2 peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
- 1 tbsp sesame oil

A perfect one for Veggies and non Veggies alike, and a great source of Omega 3. What more could you ask for?!

For more Good Oil recipes have a look at our regular website, plus if you are interested, our new Veggie Website which we’ve literally only just finished building…

What’s the weather like where you are? Being British we are obsessed with it. To be fair, we’re having to keep a very close eye on it at the moment as we’ll be planting our hemp crop soon and we need to do it at precisely the right time – and temperature and general weather conditions have a big impact on that.

Right, so the weather – it is pretty dismal here today. Grey, rainy, chilly. It always does that, gives you some sunshine and then just as you start getting used to it, snatches it away. We’re all craving wintery food because, to be honest, it feels like winter all over again. I’m confident this recipe of Ben’s will cheer us up though. Super simple, delicious and suitable for dairy free diets, Vegans, Veggies and pretty much everyone else too. You don’t need to feel too guilty about it either as it will help you towards your recommended daily intake of Omega 3!

GOOD Fruit Crumble

Ingredients:

For the Crumble
35g flour
25g sugar
3 Tbsp of GOOD Oil

For the Fruit
4 pears, peeled and chopped
100g raspberries
50g sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 190C

Method:

Mix the fruit and sugar together in an oven dish. In another bowl mix the flour, sugar and GOOD OIL with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Put the flour mix over the fruit then place in the oven for 30 mins until golden brown.

We’re very lucky here at GOOD Oil because lots of people love what we make. They email us to tell us that they do, which always makes our day. I got a message the other day saying, “I found out only recently about what a wonderful plant hemp is.  I’ve been looking all over the place for hemp seed and hemp seed oil.  All I came across was little bottles of the oil in pills.  Ugh.  Now that I have found you and your products, I am feeling very happy.” It makes us happy to make other people happy!

We were inspired. We thought that we could make ourselves and our supporters happy at the same time by encouraging lovely people to tell us why they love GOOD OIL (which makes us happy) in order to win a hamper of GOOD Stuff (to make them happy).

So tell us! If you need some inspiration, here are a handful we particularly like:

“I just enjoy using it as it is a versatile oil. It smells and taste lovely with everything from sprinkling it onto salads to using it for normal cooking! It seems so much healthier than other oils as it has all the goodness inside! Wonderful Good Oil!”
“A corner of heaven found in Devon, from good rich soil comes pure Good Oil”
“It just tastes awesome in everything!!!! I can’t get enough of its nutty taste!”

Visit http://www.goodwebsite.co.uk/goodBuzz.php to tell us. Good luck!

The GOOD Oil team xx

We made this a few weeks ago for a show we were exhibiting at,  so we thought we’d share it with you!

Henry shot the film, Glynis produced it (those other careers they have come in handy sometimes!) and Caroline was the runner. Ben (Glyn’s son) was the chef and ’star’, although the real star was the GOOD OIL obviously. We shot it at one of their friend’s houses in lovely Fitzroy square, which was absolutely beautiful. We’re very happy with it – so let us know what you think!

http://www.goodwebsite.co.uk/goodAdvert.php

The GOOD Team spent last Saturday inside at the Royal Horticultural Halls. The weather was beautiful outside – but we didn’t mind. The reason we were inside all day was because of the Viva! Incredible Veggie Show. With almost 4000 visitors the show was a great success overall, and it was especially GOOD for us. We chatted with hundreds of Veggies, Vegans and Meat reducers about the benefits of GOOD Oil with it’s Veggie Omega 3 (and great taste of course). We sold out of absolutely everything – so we’ve made a mental note for next time to take twice as much!

The whole day was really  fun. The kids loved sitting in the front of Tuk Tuk, whilst the adults enjoyed all the food that was available to try (the snacks lady next to us had some delicious things!) Hempower did well too, serving their Hemp porridge to everyone. That definitely kept us all going throughout the day. The raw chocolate was amazing too.

A successful day was had by all, and for all those who didn’t manage to buy some GOOD OIL on the day, you can buy it on our website now!

The next show is the Bristol Vegan Fayre – so we’ll see everyone there. Oh, and if you have a minute, check out our new Ad with us doing some Vegetarian cooking The shortbread recipe will be on our website shortly.

The GOOD Team x

The Chocolate fest is over until next year. It is time for some healthy recipes surely?! Especially as the sun is (kind of) shining! Some nutritionist friends of ours have developed some recipes with GOODness in mind. Perfect for a full on detox or if you are just trying to be a bit healthier this spring. I personally love the Mango dressing. Let us know how you get on with them!

Delicious mood enhancing Mango salad dressing by Charlotte Palmer

1/2 a ripe Mango
3-4 Tablespoons of GOOD OIL
1-2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
Basil or Oregano
1 teaspoon of good quality Honey
Teaspoon of Mustard Powder
Squeeze of Lemon or Lime to preserve

Take the Mango and throw into the liquidiser or food processor. Add the GOOD OIL, apple cider vinegar and mustard powder to the mix, plus some fresh torn Basil or Oregano and the honey. Add pepper to taste, and a good squeeze of Lemon or Lime to preserve. Pour in an airtight jar and store in the fridge this dressing makes all salads taste divine!!

Black Olive and Chickpea Pate by Charlotte Palmer

1 jar/tin of Black Olives
1 tin of Chickpeas
A generous handful of fresh herbs (Basil, Thyme etc)
A clove of garlic
A squeeze of lemon
A teaspoon of vegetable Bouillon powder
2-3 Tablespoons of GOOD OIL
A teaspoon of rice or barley miso
1 teaspoon of ground Seaweed or ground pepper to taste.

Throw all the above ingredients (except the GOOD OIL) into a food processor mix together whilst slowly drizzling the GOOD OIL in from the top. When the mixture has reached a smooth paste at the desired consistency spoon out into a clean short tub or jar store in the fridge up to 5 days. Eat spread generously on rye toast, oatcakes, or ricecakes.

Cool Cucumber Soup (serves 2-4) by Hayley Williams

1 large cucumber
1 pear
A few spring onions
A handful or two of fresh mint
2 Tablespoons of GOOD OIL
One clove of garlic
A squeeze of lemon juice
A couple of ice cubes

Simply blend the above ingredients using either a jug or a handheld blender.
If the blender isn’t high powered add the ice cubes at the end.
Retain a few mint leaves to garnish and serve cool. Eat quickly!

The market for supplements is booming, with 40% of us popping a pill everday to keep ourselves healthy (from the National Diet & Nutrition Survey),  and approximately £300m being spent on them every year – but certain experts are questioning the effectiveness of getting our nutrients from supplements rather than in whole foods.

An article I recently read in Top Sante said that, “According to health experts, supplements can’t match the way nutrients are delivered to us in food. Research revels that when individual nutrients are given in supplement form, they’re often less effective at promoting health than the combination of nutrients in whole foods – possibly because supplements are not as easily absorbed by the body.” No actual health experts were cited, but a quick search on google did come up with a few websites and articles that said the same thing (along with hundreds of websites selling supplements!).

The funny thing is, the people who take supplements tend to be those who have a balanced diet as well – that is certainly the case with my friends and family. They are the generally health conscious, who care about their bodies and understand the need for vitamins and minerals. I can’t imagine those who live on Turkey Twizzlers regularly pop down to Holland & Barrett to stock up supplements?

So all in all, balanced diet is better than supplements – and dietary changes should be number 1 on the priority list before popping pills. Some simple guidelines would be eating plenty of fresh fruit and veg, having at least 10ml of GOOD OIL a day for your Omegas (obviously!), getting plenty of protein etc etc. Tastier than pill popping too. Then again… with a busy lifestlye eating a perfectly balanced diet is not always possible (however much we strive towards it!) so if supplements help even just a little bit, why not?

Busy! It has definitely been one of those week’s when you wake up on a Monday, and the next thing you know it’s the weekend. Whoa…

On Monday the first Braham & Murray GOOD Advert was shot at a rather lovely location in Fitzroy Square. We’re just in post production now, but watch this space… It was all about the food, and Ben developed some absolutely amazing new recipes to showcase in it (we’ll put them up on the website soon, but the roasted tomato and sweet potato soup was glorious!).

We’ve also got our online sales up and running as well – and we got our first sale almost immediately. Our cute 250ml bottles of delicious GOOD OIL for £4.49, delivered to your door. Awesome stuff.

The girls at the farm also had to contend with the March snow. The farm looked so beautiful I don’t think they were too upset…

bye for now xx