‘Food that is medicine’

Herbalist shares ghee made on Full Moon

By C ORI U RBAN Special to The

Republican

Full Moon Ghee really is made during the full moon.

Ghee is clarified butter that is lactose-free and shelf stable for up to a year. Its many health benefits include: its full-spectrum short, medium and longchain fatty acids; omega-3 and omega-9 essential fatty acids; vitamins A, D, E and K; and nine phenolic antioxidants and numerous other minerals.

But what makes Full

Moon Ghee, produced in Franklin County, of special interest is its production during the full moon.

“We make it on the full moon because the moon has deep connections to Ayurvedic medicine and healing with herbs,” explained owner Hannah L. Jacobson-Hardy, of Ashfield. “The energy of the full moon is a time of dream becoming manifested, upward movement, vitality, yang, expansiveness and full-oflife force.”

Jacobson-Hardy is an herbalist by training who has studied Ayurvedic medicine, which is from India.

“We want our ghee to be infused with the fullness of life on Earth as we gaze into the moon,” she said. “Milk that is harvested from cows who eat grass that is growing during a waxing moon also contains this level of energy.”

Ghee is used in healing modalities, cooking and body care products because it is nourishing and sattvic, calming to the mind and body.

Jacobson-Hardy began

Ghee

CONTINUES FROM PAGE L18 the business after receiving a jar of ghee as a birthday gift.

“I could not get over how amazing it made me feel so I started making my own for home use,” she said.

She enjoys sharing food, especially “food that is medicine,” so she asked her friend who introduced her to ghee to make small jars for her to sell at the farmers market where she brings her herbal products in Northampton.

“People loved the ghee. So we ramped up production,” and she quickly grew the business that sells ghee in more than 100 stores and farm stands throughout the Northeast.

The ghee is made at the Western Massachusetts Food Processing Center in Greenfield. JacobsonHardy has three part-time employees. Full Moon Ghee produces about 5,000 pounds of ghee per year, using butter from farms in the Northeast. There are many sizes of ghee available, ranging from 4-ounce jars at $11.99 to gallon tubs for $119.99. The most popular size is the 16-ounce for $21.99.

Besides the original, Full Moon Ghee flavors include rosemary garlic, turmeric spiced, chocolate and maple.

The savory flavors are delicious cooked into stir fries, curries, rice and sweet potatoes. The sweet flavors are best used as spreads for pancakes, muffins, bread and even blended into coffee or hot cocoa.

“Ghee was super popular about five years ago with the paleo and keto movement, when eating healthy fats became recognized as beneficial and necessary for our bodies and brains,”

Jacobson-Hardy said. “It has been a steady upswing since then and especially with our brand recognition, which speaks to the supportive community we have here for local food.”

She is not interested in exponential growth of her business: “I believe in having my needs met, paying my employees livable wages and sharing the medicine of ghee.” leafy green yield, have two magnets that separate ions which eliminates the actual press so the fruit or vegetables don’t sit.

Yet the cost of production has increased in the past two years with supply-chain issues and the rise of butter’s price per pound. Full Moon Ghee has not increased its prices since then and doesn’t plan to, “but we want our customers to know why the cost of our ghee is often more than other ghee on the shelf,” Jacobson-Hardy said: livable wages, farmer livelihoods, local butter with a small carbon footprint, healthy cows and community kitchens.

“I hope for a fruitful year ahead that nourishes my customers, my family and staff while also honoring the cows, farmers and bountiful Earth which provides for all of us,” she said.

“The process is unique and different because it is less oxidation and that gives the best results,” she said.

Amy Brennan, a Springfield College student, was at the juice bar for the first time.

Brennan said she usually goes to different places to try out acai bowls and she had been considering trying Cellf for a while. “I have never been here before,” Brennan said, “It’s good. I like it. The size and price is good.”

Navarro, a Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy and University of Massachusetts graduate, continued her education in Honduras, where she studied the benefits of fasting, proper nutrition and juicing.

Navarro’s health and nutrition journey has taken on a new life since then. Currently, she teaches a spin class, just finished the Philadelphia Marathon and is in the process of getting her registered dietitian nutrition certification from Cornell University.

“I have a plant-based nutrition certification from Cornell and just currently got accepted into a RDN program (registered dietitian nutrition) for master’s,” she said.

What started out as a side business around fasting and juicing by selling fresh juice in the hair salon circuit has branched out into niche health and nutritional campaigns.

“I just want to help our people in Springfield change by talking to them about juice fasting and letting them know they are in control,” Navarro said.

Navarro admits that it is difficult to find something healthy to eat and committing to change after working eight to 12 hours daily, but people can come to Cellf juice to take control over their nutrition and fasting in addition to joining a community of support.

“It is hard to cook and do what needs to get done. Everything in our day is moving fast and it becomes easy to put something in the microwave, but we can slow down. By fasting, we can take control of our nutrition and breath,” she said.

She said being open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. helps reach customers with busy schedules and in turn, Cellf is selling more alkaline juice and sorbet bowls than ever.

There was an unexpected boom in sales that started with the COVID-19 pandemic. “During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was intense,” Navarro said. “Fasting was a hit and in January and February we had lines through the door. Online ordering went from 20 to 50 deliveries within three weeks.”

With all the juicing the pulp had to go somewhere, so Navarro has been recycling juice pulp into compost.

“I graduated in 2015 with a biology and horticulture degree,” she said. “So, naturally, I started composting. I have a big yard and I wanted to start a kale garden.”

Navarro said she creates her own mix of compost and topsoil and although there is no fertilizer in it, her compost mix has the same nutrient rich properties to sustain a healthy garden.

“Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium are all needed for a healthy garden,” she said. “You can tell it is good by the color.”

The compost mix is used to support kale, tomato and pepper gardens and many more fruit and vegetables.

Cellf Juices donates the rest of the pulp to be turned into compost at community gardens and farms.

“We have tons of pulp, more than any other juicer in the city. I partnered with Grow your City, Gardening the Community a nonprofit on Walnut Street, and Commonwealth Sustainability, a chicken farm in Hadley, for composting,” she said. Local farm owners and customers can come in and ask for compost. According to Navarro, the staff will hand over a burlap bag full of freshly pressed goodies created for the garden you have in mind.

And if asked, Navarro said can she go to customers’ homes and test the mix to make sure it is right.

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Small businesses continue to be the backbone of the North American business community. According to the career resource Zippia, there are 33.2 million small businesses in the United States. Those organizations employ around 62 million people. The COVID-19 pandemic was particularly harsh on small businesses. However, many of them survived through digitization that they plan to continue to utilize even when the pandemic is long gone.

Consumers are the driving forces behind the success of small businesses. Here are some effective ways for consumers to help small businesses grow.

■ Shop local. Shopping local means becoming repeat patrons at the independent businesses that comprise Main Street as opposed to the chain stores that dominate strip malls.

■ Share on social. Utilizing social media platforms to highlight the positive attributes of a business can help that business grow.

■ Call direct for take-out orders. Those ubiquitous third-party food delivery services may be convenient, but businesses have to share the profit from your purchase with the delivery service, cutting into their bottom lines. Pick up your order or rely on the restaurants’ own delivery teams.

■ Engage with the business online. Complicated algorithms and other factors determine how a business’ website or social media page gets seen by the public. You can help things along by liking pages, visiting the website frequently and sharing any posts.

■ Speak about a business in person. When out and about, whether you’re dining with friends or chatting with a stranger, try to push and recommend businesses you support. If someone compliments your lawn, shoes or haircut, mention the businesses that did the work or sold you the products.

■ Suggest opportunities for exposure. If you know about a school or organization looking for vendors, make the suggestion to a small business you use frequently. They may get new customers from participating in the event.

Small businesses are driving forces in the economy. Consumers can do their part to keep them thriving and profitable.

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