LOCALLY MADE
Wise Goat Organics, which specializes in gut health foods like sauerkraut, has a variety of flavors in said food, including pickle relish, spicy garlic and borscht, which is made of beetroot.
FERMENTED FOODS
Business owner touts gut-health benefits of products
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Bertuccio’s Manager Grant Hughes said the Wise Goat Organics products he carries are popular with customers. “The (vegan) kimchi is probably our best seller,” he said, referring to the fermented Korean dish that is made up of cabbage, radish and spices. While the term gut health only recently became a buzzword in food industry circles, Risavi saw the writing on the wall a while ago. Having grown up around horses, Risavi moved to Santa Cruz to continue her career as a natural horsemanship trainer. She met the wife of Grant Brians of Heirloom Organic Gardens in Hollister at a horse show, which eventually led her to helping out at their stand at farmers markets.
“I fell in love with farmers markets that way,” Risavi said. Customers would routinely ask her about the nutritional value of certain foods, which motivated Risavi to take courses on the subject. After that, she supplemented her nutritionist credentials by taking classes in acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, at which point a common theme started emerging with her clients—a number of them were suffering from gut issues. Risavi knew she was onto something. “All health issues start with the gut,” she said. And obtaining superior gut ➝ 16 health requires eating a
ROBERT ELIASON
ary Risavi moved from Colorado to Santa Cruz in 2008 with the intention of staying in the area for “only a couple of years.” Thirteen years later, Risavi is still here, having settled in Hollister. The owner of Wise Goat Organics, a small-food business that specializes in sauerkraut and dozens of guthealthy items, Risavi’s products are available at eight different farmers markets and speciality stores such as Bertuccio’s, Lolla in San Juan Bautista and the Smoke Point BBQ, which she co-owns with chef Jarad Gallagher.
BY EMANUEL LEE
HEALTH & WELL-BEING SOUTH SANTA CLARA & SAN BENITO COUNTIES 2021
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5/27/21 5:06 PM
