In Fairfield, Iowa resides a global volunteer with the heart of a caregiver and a mind of an electrical engineer. Introducing Jan Swinton, area celebrity, local food advocate, and natural farming networker extraordinaire.

Jan’s path has spanned the globe. She is a passionate human rights participant and absolutely walks her talk. Just after college, Jan found a new calling. Her path led her from Iowa to wartime Uganda. At the time when many young people are testing the waters as newly independent adults, Jan was responsible for twenty-two orphans under the age of two. She learned to grow her own food and was faced with tough teenage orphan young men that had learned to portray hardness yet needed the love that comes only from softness. Jan not only adapted, she thrived and later returned with her own family to Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. Jan’s fearlessness is evident in her stance and the kindness clear in her actions.

Jan continues to span the globe. During our recent conversation she tells me of her plans to return to India to teach women and orphans to sew. Her craft generates income and independence to those that need it most.

Most recently she has returned to her native roots and to the town she describes as “the pinnacle of food”. Jan’s role in natural farming began as the Local Food Coordinator for Pathfinders Resource Conservation and Development and has transitioned into coordinating a ground breaking local food project, The Southeast Iowa Food Hub.

Jan’s path in promoting natural farming is inspiring for all those taking steps to make a difference. While many agencies were losing funding, Jan not one for walking away easily, created a winning proposal and was awarded a Farm to School grant. Her efforts resulted in creating a greenhouse on the land of a local manufacturing site. Now I am sure you are wondering where does the electrical engineer mind play into the story? Well… the greenhouse Ms. Jan’s project developed utilizes the heat waste of the facility to warm the happy plant home. Jan was thrilled to explain in detail how each segment of the process works. I would happily explain it to you with the exception of one detail. Unlike Jan, I do not have that same engineering brain so can only tell you that sand heats to 1600 degrees and is cooled before the excess is pumped to an underground tank to heat the inspired indoor garden. The other details she will eagerly explain!

And for her fabulous new role with the Southeast Iowa Food Hub? Jan, in collaboration with Maharishi University of Management, has created a new certification process designed for local farmers. This incredible new approach, called Fairfood, purchases produce from local farmers that are non-GMO and are grown without pesticides or chemicals. Water quality, composting, and an appropriate buffer zone are all part of this healthy policy. The idea is rather than the environmental impact and extensive transportation costs, a standard is set to ensure optimal health and integrity while benefiting the local community. The standard also opens up a channel to market for many natural farmers that may be unable to afford the often-expensive organic certification costs. In building this brilliant new food system, she has passed the reigns of the greenhouse day-to-day management and is working incredibly hard to bring the natural produce to her community. As of her first meeting, she had fifty farmers interested in converting to natural growing farming practices. Her vision is every community school, hospital, restaurant, and retailer to have access to this fabulous healthy local food.

This year Iowa had an early frost leaving many tomatoes in Jan’s garden. Not one to be deterred, she decided to make green tomato salsa with the added bonus of fresh basil from the greenhouse. Checkout the LoveSelf Vegan Green Tomato Salsa Recipe, inspired by Jan.

Next time you are on the road, drive to a small town in southern Iowa and look for a lady named Jan. She will offer you an apple and tell you stories of Africa, feeding us well, inspiring healthy farming practices, and participating in new natural food standard. Definitely worth the trip!

LoveSelf food for thought… What step can you take to inspire naturally grown healthy food in your community?

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How meditation and organic food inspired a young woman’s life in Mongolia .  The heart of our exploration.

Throughout my life I would often imagine the type of school my future children would attend. In my vision, I would see this beautiful place of meditation, organic food, yoga, love, and brilliant education. A promotion of their essence and highest achievement based on all that they are. Not imaging that it existed, I also thought I would have to create such a bounty of learning. So imagine my surprise, when I was introduced to a private school in a tiny Iowa town that encompasses all of what I thought was my dream.

Introducing the Maharishi school in Fairfield, Iowa and Ms. Marissa Markowitz, alumni and a story of inspiration and success. Marissa’s foundation began with her supportive family and the empowered education she received at MSAE. She believes we can all be a “force for good” and has chosen to devote her life to “doing something better” for each other. Marissa and I bonded over our knowledge that food is not only fuel; it is the make up of who we are. Food is about contribution, happiness, culture, and is a path to our highest good.

Marissa was born in Korea and adopted by New Yorkers when she was a baby. She recalls her tall blonde mother telling her about a childhood friend; remembering her as the most beautiful girl in the world. She said that she always knew that somehow her own child would resemble her lovely friend. Because we are often the visions of our life, Marissa arrived as an infant of her mother’s heart and the striking image of that childhood bond.

Her parents traveled the world searching, only to find through meditation and self love that happiness doesn’t come from the outside. It comes from within. They have known the hardship of being unable to afford soap of even the bottled water needed for health in developing countries. They also know what it is to overcome. All of this they instilled in Marissa.

At the age of four Marissa’s family moved her to Fairfield, Iowa. She started school at MSAE and describes her version of rebellious. Ready for this?! Marissa’s view of rebellious is meditating twice a day eating organic, and yet wanting to see the world. Always looking for something more. That seeking led her to a journey after graduation. She spent three months traveling as a volunteer throughout Fiji, the Australian outback, in Buddhist communities, and on organic farms. It was her first exposure to aspects of the developing world and her life was forever changed. She returned home, studied organic farming, graduated from college, taught yoga, and was involved in a serious relationship yet her wanderlust called. “I am an explorer,” she tells me. Just before launching the plan to attend graduate school on scholarship, she received an opportunity to speak in Taiwan about her experience on the 100 Mile Diet. (The 100-mile diet challenges people to eat only food grown within 100 miles of their residence). Rather than stay the expected six weeks, she called her parents  to announce she was not returning to the United States. Instead she had found herself traveling to Mongolia, falling in love with a country and its people.

Imagine a young woman in her 20’s traveling the world solo knowing that she was protected and that her best path was that of her heart and contribution. Marissa describes being mesmerized by the nomadic culture of Mongolia and feeling instantly at home. She started to learn the language and was hired as an intern by the Ministry of Agriculture to work on a food security project. She worked with people in challenging circumstances to train them in organic practices as a means for feeding their families and bringing in income. The doors continued to open and she became the Program Coordinator for the Mongolian Woman Farmers Association. She has since finished her Master’s research and has started a PhD program, focused on Mongolia of course! Her life now takes her back and forth from DC to her heart home of Mongolia.

Marissa in her intellectual style, told me about her vision of “100% inner sustainability and 100% outer sustainability”. What does that mean? It means taking care of ourselves and each other. Eating well. Living your passion, and doing things that make your soul feel alive! Health, happiness, and productivity in all its forms.

I asked Marissa what her life choices have taught her about food. She summed it up in perfect LoveSelf style. She told me that Maharishi said, “Food brings us bliss”. Of course it does.

Marissa has shared with us her family’s gluten free vegetarian “meatballs”. Enjoy them with marinara sauce for a family dinner.

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