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Malibu surfside news | June 13, 2019 | 11
Wild-food chef discusses many gifts of nature
Barbara Burke
Freelance Reporter
Jess Starwood discusses the benefits of natural
medicines at the Point Dume Clubhouse June 5. Suzy
Demeter/Surfside News
She’s an herbalist, a forager
and a wild-food chef.
The Malibu Garden Club
hosted Jess Starwood of
Sunraven Apothecary on
June 5 at the Point Dume
Clubhouse.
Attendees gathered, perusing
a display of adaptogens,
extracts and elixirs
that salve and soothe — turkey
tail, lions Mane, Chaga,
Cordyceps and more, all
with their health-supporting
features, their unique nutritional
profiles and their particular
scents.
Starwood began her presentation,
offering excellent
explanations about each
item’s unique healing and
nutritional properties.
“I’m excited to bring the
gifts of nature to Malibu and
first, I note that we should
use the medicine of the
land and local honeys and
plants,” Starwood said. “For
instance, most elderberries
found in products in natural
food stores or online are actually
from Croatia, but the
plant grows abundantly here
and is an excellent antiviral
food source.”
Elderberry is found
niched within a fungus that
grows in birch trees and creates
a tumor to hold the berries,
she explained, noting
that when local sources are
used, the plant has adapted
to nearby conditions and its
antioxidant properties are
strongest when it is sourced
locally.
Elderberry can be found
in some of its common
woodland associates, such
as the California sycamore
or valley oak.
“The leaves of that plant
have been used medicinally
for centuries,” Starwood
said. “It is used for respiratory
ailments, including
asthma.”
The mountains and
coastal areas near Malibu
are brimming with blooming
plants and weeds that
are not only beneficial to
humans, but also provide
bursts of flavors to a vast array
of cuisine.
“There are lots of dandelions,
nettles, mushrooms,
nasturtium, wild radish
and a whole of lot of black
mushroom that can be used
nutritionally in the human
diet,” she said. “When I cater
an event, I use 40 to 60
species of plants in a threecourse
meal, and people
thoroughly enjoy flavors
that they haven’t tasted before.”
Wild foods are 61 percent
more nutritionally superior
to agricultural produce,
Starwood said.
“For example, nettle
leaves have a superior nutritional
profile as compared
to spinach or kale and the
leaves can be made into delicious
chips and are very
helpful for urinary tract concerns,”
she said. “Brassicas,
dandelions, sorrel, mallow,
and purslane are all abundant
here and have great nutritional
value.”
Foraging for local flavors
is the future of healthy food,
Starwood said, noting that
getting back to nature as a
source for food and using
medicinal plants provides
some solutions to addressing
how rapid environmental
decline causes common
ailments, such as anxiety,
depression and stress.
“We need to return to
healthcare as it used to be
when people healed themselves
with natural plants
and herbs,” she said. “Processed
foods are exposed
to environmental toxins and
our houses where we live
are not natural, but are instead
places where we are
exposed to too much electromagnetic
force and, with
all of those things going on,
it is hard, if not impossible,
for our bodies to keep up
and heal.”
Starwood, an avid aficionado
of mushrooms, notes
that they are both a food and
a medicine.
“Mushrooms have been
around this planet a lot longer
than humans and they
are a source of complete
protein,” she said. “They
have the most minerals in
their cap, not their stipe, and
they are full of potassium,
phosphorous, selenium,
iron, copper, zinc and magnesium.”
Mushrooms, Starwood
explained, form a shelf colony
and have their highest
nutrient value when they are
cooked because they have
tough cell walls and when
they are heated, the walls
break down and release a
plethora of antioxidants.
“I start every day with a
hot drink made with raw cacao
and turkey tail and Reishi
and I add turmeric and
Matcha and blend in lions
mane and Cordyceps,” she
said. “That drink provides
me with high energy and it
can even help athletes and
utilize oxygen more efficiently
so that they can perform
very well.”
After the event, attendees
mingled and shared insights
about the presentation.
“Starwood has a great
message,” Amy Wang said.
“We should not destroy the
wild plants with insecticide
sprays.”
Attendee Daniel Calderon
was quite impressed, noting
“It’s so good for people to
learn about the greatness of
nature around them and to
have respect for it.”
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Business Briefs
New juice bar comes to
Malibu
Nékter Juice Bar, the nation’s
leading modern juice
bar brand with more than
130 restaurants across 15
states, opened its second
location within the new
Whole Foods Market in
Malibu Wednesday, June
12.
The news comes as Nékter
recently opened its first
Whole Foods Market location
in Porter Ranch, California,
May 22. Nékter is
part of the Friends of Whole
Foods Market program that
provides the opportunity
for innovative businesses
aligned with Whole Foods
Market’s mission and quality
standards to establish
their own independent retail
spaces inside Whole
Foods Market stores.
Founded in 2010 in
Southern California and expanding
across the country,
Nékter Juice Bar is the pioneer
and champion of the
authentic juice bar experience,
offering an innovative
menu of freshly made
juices, superfood smoothies,
acai bowls and healthy
snacks.
Nékter uses only fresh,
whole ingredients and never
includes hidden fillers,
McDermott
unnecessary sugars, processed
ingredients, or artificial
ingredients that can be
found at other juice bars.
Steve Schulze, co-founder
and CEO of Nékter Juice
Bar, said what was started
in 2010 as a regional concept
in Southern California
has blossomed into a national
lifestyle brand that
has transformed the juice
bar experience. He added
that partnering with Whole
Foods Market will allow
the business to introduce its
authentically healthy menu
rooted in ingredient-integrity
to more people across
the country.
The new Nékter Juice
Bar at Whole Foods Market
in Malibu is located at
The Park at Cross Creek,
23401 Civic Center Way
and will be open during
regular Whole Foods Market
hours.
Malibu’s retail recovering?
Supported by an inspired
promotional campaign that
includes social media, advertising
and publicity,
Malibu retailers are seeing
a positive public response
to the #ShopMalibu promotional
campaign recently
Please see business, 15
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