Food As Medicine
We’ve all heard that we are what we eat, but what does that really mean? How do our daily food choices affect our health and wellness, and what steps can we take right now to eat our way to vibrancy while fostering a healthy planet and all its inhabitants? The articles we’ve written featured in this section will focus on these questions from a variety of angles to help you build savvy and understanding for making the best choices moving forward. It’s not too late.
During the current pandemic, these educational materials related to health and wellness are being offered without subscription.
Dive In to Discover Ways Your Food Choices Impact Your Health
Heeding Hippocrates: Food as Medicine
Of course, we’ve all heard the message that we need to pay attention to what we eat, in tandem with leading an active lifestyle, but what does that actually mean in an everyday practice? How can we get to that place where the Greek physician Hippocrates’s admonition of “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” has a real and profound impact on our own lives? Here are some real actionables. Read more…
It’s All In the Practice: Taking On the “Dirty Dozen”
It’s been all over social media—Kale (that wonderful super food) has been added to the “Dirty Dozen” list. Laden with insecticides, the word out now is forgo this healthful green. It’s just not good for your body anymore with all those neuro-toxins. But is this really the full story? The short answer is no! For a more nuanced answer, Read more…
Do You Eat Like This All the Time?: Yes, You Are Worth More Than Junk Food
Yes, I really do get that question, “Do you eat this way all the time?” Often it comes during one of our farm-to-table dinners or when we’re finally sitting down to a late staff lunch. The answer is a resounding YES. We eat what we grow or what we source through our network of local producers. We eat seasonally and fresh. We make each meal entirely from scratch. Here are some reasons you can too. Read more…
Valuing a Local Choice: Real Impact, Right Here
Sometimes we can feel at the mercy of the industrial food system, but we don’t have to be. There are valuable and viable alternatives in our midst. In this article, I’ll unpack elements of what is happening in the agribusiness food system, why it leaves the consumer vulnerable, and the alternative choices you can make. Read more…
The Real Food Chain Story: Where Food Comes From and Why It Matters
Basically, every mechanism of growth that becomes part of our diet is powered by the sun, soil, and rain. At least that’s how it always used to be. Greens came right from the garden behind the house, meat from animals you raised in the barn yourself. But for many people now, that route has become greatly obscured. Here is why you need to be able to trace the story of your food. Read more…
Testament to a Healthy Lifestyle: Grandpa’s Story of Remarkable Recovery
Encouraging folks to make healthy, local eating choices and enjoy an active lifestyle in the beautiful outdoors are integral parts of our farm’s vision of supporting a healthy planet and all its inhabitants. We’ve all heard “you are what you eat” and that we should have regular exercise. But in the daily grind, lured by the television and seduced by sugary, salty, and fatty foods, living that maxim can run astray. Does a healthy diet and active lifestyle actually make the difference that is so often preached? Grandpa’s recent story serves as a testament. Read more…
Related Articles from our COVID-19 Response Theme
The Power of Choice: What You Should Know About the Industrialized Food System and How You Can Change It.
Events like the pandemic of COVID-19 shake up our everyday routines. This time of re-evaluation is a chance to not only reassess what offers the least risk for the spread of the deadly Corona Virus but also a chance to learn and weigh the other benefits and risks from different foods and food systems, from the soil up. We need to make real changes in our choices—changes that will shape the world we create in the aftermath of COVID-19. Read more…
What Do I Do Now?: Advice for being Proactive in the Face of COVID-19 from our Farm’s Family Physician.
So, as we quarantine ourselves in our homes, what more do we need to consider to vitalize our immune systems, protect our communities, and move forward with integrity and purpose through this difficult situation? Here are eight key actionables from Ann Berlage, M.D. Read more…
We Are Committed to Offering the Very Best of Food Choices
What if there was a place where you could go, knowing that all the choice were good? That’s what we’ve created here at North Star Homestead Farms and Farmstead Creamery & Cafe.
From our CSA program to our e-store offerings, from growing the foods right here on our homestead farm to carefully sourcing from local and regional growers, we focus on the whole process from soil to plate with attention and integrity.
If, at any time, you need to reach out to us for special requests or questions, please call 715-462-3453
Team Farmstead
A physician-led multidisciplinary team engaged in farming for community, we are dedicated to our vision of a health planet and all its inhabitants. Every day for us is dedicated to growing, raising, and sourcing the highest integrity foods for our Friends of the Farm. Join us in this effort for empowering health and wellness from the ground up! ~Ann, Laura, and Kara Berlage and Steve Barnes.
