Historical April–May 2014 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
My neighbor, Angie Meara, is a remarkable woman of immense energy and commitment.
I have learned a great deal from her about natural child birth and home birth. Of particular interest has been her passion for pure food–organic, not sprayed, local if at all possible.
She and her husband Sean have a plot in the McPherson garden and also grow vegetables in their backyard. For over a year, they have been hosting 4 laying chickens who reside in a coop built by Sean.
Her children, Olive and Van, help out and are clearly learning the values of healthy eating. Angie introduced me to the Farmers Market and has provided valuable information over the years about food.
She makes her own butter, olive oil, soap and other basic products. More recently she began to create her own mildly fermented beverages , kombucha and ginger beer. Kombucha is made from sweetened tea and contains over 50 different kinds of probiotics.
The beverage originated in China about 2,000 years ago and came to the West via Russia. Angie has found that it helps to settle stomachs.
She calls her creation Gut Punch and produces it in a wide variety of flavors including Cranberry/Ginger, Strawberry/Sage, Cranberry/Apple, and Strawberry/ Elderberry.
I have sampled the latter and found it quite refreshing.
She has a business license and sells kombucha and ginger beer to a growing number of friends and family.
Some Wash U students were among her early customers.
She hopes to acquire an industrial kitchen in the near future in order to move her business to a new level.
In keeping with her philosophy, she uses only organic ingredients.
The berries are not sprayed. And, whenever possible, her ingredients are local.
I take my hat off to her.
She must have incredible time management skills as well as a love of what she is doing,.
The process of making these beverages is not simple but the reward is worth it.
She is creating something marketable that she believes in, and not many of us are able to say that. For more information or to order kombucha, contact her at angiemeara@gmail. com.
Original photograph caption
Angie Meara. Descriptive caption supplied.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April–May 2014.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2014_04.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
