EATING

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.

Mary 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.

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 health requires eating a ➝ 16

 Emergency Department with 16 private treatment rooms and 3 trauma bays  Ambulatory Surgery Center  Women’s Center with private, spacious birthing suites  Technologically advanced Diagnostic Imaging Center

 Hollister Orthopedic Specialty Center  Barragan Family Diabetes Center  Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine  Hollister Multi-Specialty Center  Skilled Nursing Facilities  Home Health Agency

PROMOTING GUT HEALTH Wise Goat Organics owner Mary Risavi believes in the nutritional aspects of sauerkraut, pickle relish and other fermented foods.

it on the same day you’re preserving the vitamins in it and they don’t degrade.” Having raised horses for the better part of two decades, Risavi bought goats 12 years ago with the intention of milking them. As time went on, she noticed something rather remarkable about the animals, which is why she named her business Wise Goat Organics. “I noticed they were very selective on what weeds, trees and grasses they would eat,” she said. “They would even be selective on the specific part of the plant they wanted. This seemed to vary with the time of day, season, age and any health problems they were facing. I thought this was very wise of them and felt as humans we should do our best to follow this approach.” Hughes raves about the Wise Goat Organic products, which is ironic considering he is not a sauerkraut fan. “It’s just not my deal, but people love it for the probiotic factor and all the amazing 12 variety of vegetables, including of Risavi’s deep belief—and those of things it does for gut health,” he said. “There kimchi, sauerkraut and kefir, which her growing customer base—that was a young lady who came in, a German boost the number of beneficial fermented foods lead to great digestive exchange-student, who saw the kraut and bacteria, or probiotics, found in the health. Their motto? Taking care of bought it because she needed something gut. Probiotics, or good bacteria, are your gut will help take care of you. from home. The next time she came into the thought to help a multitude of health Risavi said her drive to make store, she said the sauerkraut was amazing, issues, specifically digestive health. wholesome, quality products is a big that it was literally a slice of home for her.” Risavi started making sauerkraut for reason why she focuses on sourcing Risavi makes sauerkraut by her clients, and the demand became so great that Risavi launched Wise from local, organic and sustainable farmers, including Coke, Pinnacle, shredding cabbage and depending on the product—she makes different flavors of kraut including purple cabbage, green Goat Organics seven years ago. Heirloom, Lakeside and Jade Coast. garden, jalapeno, borscht, spicy garlic,

Risavi’s product line goes beyond “The cool part about that is I’m golden and supergreen—combines it krauts and includes herbal tea, hot picking up something like cabbage and with garlic and salt before putting it in sauce, stoneground tahini, matcha we’ll start processing it the same day or glass jars where it ferments for a month. powder, almond butter and kvass, a following day so everything is still fresh “We try to maximize the flavors and traditional fermented Slavic beverage and the nutritional value is preserved,” nutritional value without compromising commonly made from rye bread. Risavi said. “When you’re harvesting anything,” she said. “The No. 1 goal is to Although Wise Goat Organics has a veggies—say broccoli or cabbage—the keep the health value of the foods we variety of products, the fact that all of Vitamin C content starts dropping the sell and support local farmers. We’re them are fermented speaks volumes second you harvest it. So by processing trying to do everything right.” 