“Rebecca Dixon and Sarah Lauren Dal Balcon are passionate about sustainability and healing. They bring you ojoche to provide just that.”

Originally from Littleton, Massachusetts, Rebecca “Becca” Dixon spent many summers working on her cousin’s sheep dairy farm in Westminster West, Vermont. Farming was an eye-opening experience in food production for Becca, who partook in the process from beginning to end.

She helped birth the lambs and care for them as they grew. She learned how to rotate them through pastures, and how to cure and turn and spread their manure on vegetable crops to grow carrots and lettuce and peppers from seed. And after milking the sheep in the mornings, Becca learned about how to make and age the cheese.

“I got hooked on the reward of a perfectly imperfect wheel of cheese and knowing exactly how every component stacked up to create it, because I had been there every step of the way,” Becca remembers, continuing, “This all had a huge impact on me as a 13-year-old, and I have never looked back.”

After moving west later in life, Becca again found herself on a sheep dairy farm, but this time in Royal Oaks, California at an artisanal farm run by women called Garden Variety Cheese. Becca managed the cheese cave and worked farmer’s markets and, as she had in her teens, Becca milked the sheep in the mornings and brought the milk to the vat in the cheesemaking room.

That is where she first crossed paths with Sarah Lauren Dal Balcon, the new lead cheese maker.

Sarah grew up in Cloverdale, California, a small town outside of San Francisco in northern Sonoma County, which is best known for its wine and dairy production. She experienced health problems as a child that fueled an early passion for food and nutrition, and at age 11, Sarah decided to become vegetarian.

After deciding that computer science wasn't for her, Sarah followed her early passion and chose the culinary industry, working at farm-to-table restaurants all over California and cooking for celebrities, wine makers and other respected chefs throughout Los Angeles. She also learned the organic and sustainable practices of medicinal marijuana farming across California.

In her late twenties, Sarah was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, which causes chronic inflammation in the digestive tract that can result in permanent damage to the tissues over time. She was told she would need to be on steroids and immunosuppressants for the rest of her life to deal with the chronic inflammation in her intestines, but Sarah rejected that notion.

Instead, she turned to the knowledge and tools she had gleaned throughout her life and career, and leveraged a combination of foods and supplements, as well as energy and spiritual work to heal.

In 2009, Sarah enrolled in college to become a medical assistant and after graduation, she worked with pro athletes in medicine. She enjoyed her career as a medical assistant, but when she started to have bad Crohn's flare-ups, Sarah took this as a cue that she was off-course on her life’s path. After a bowel surgery and a seven month-long Crohn's flare-up, Sarah decided to go back to cooking, which led her to Santa Cruz and ultimately, to Becca.

Eventually, work-related injuries prompted Becca to leave farming and transition into food service, applying the lessons she had learned about sustainability and discipline at Garden Variety Cheese. She worked as a barista and in the kitchen at a small cafe in Monterey, California, which gave her in-depth knowledge about coffee and the ethical sourcing of coffee beans, as well as experience in the demands of cooking on the line in a kitchen.

Moving north again to the Santa Cruz mountains, Becca worked at a unique store where she learned even more about gardening and traditional food preservation methods such as fermentation, canning, beer brewing, meat curing and more. This fueled a passion for using all parts of food, even things typically seen as scraps or compost. As she continued to gain experience in food service, Becca also worked as a bartender and a sous chef.

Though Becca and Sarah were working full time at jobs they loved, they felt unfulfilled and unhappy. They shared the feeling that something was yet unrealized and not living in alignment with that purpose took a toll on their bodies. Becca was experiencing constant nausea, headaches, vomiting and exhaustion, and they both battled brain fog and lost their appetites and thus, a significant amount of weight.

The stress caused a flare up in Sarah’s Crohn’s disease that prompted her to consult a naturopathic doctor who muscle-tested her for herbs that would be helpful for combating her symptoms and inflammation. With this knowledge in hand, Sarah formulated a tea blend in the bulk isle of the local natural health food store as a means to regularly ingest the medicinal properties of herbs that would help her battle her symptoms.

The blend she made tasted amazing and it helped Becca with her digestive issues, stomach pains and overall anxiety, as well. Becca and Sarah shared her herbal tea blend, which they called “Tummy Tea,” with friends who also loved it, and one friend recommended that they start selling it. Having always wanted to start their own business and work for themselves, Sarah and Becca founded “Integritea.”

Inspired by their ability to heal themselves, but also as a matter of life or death, Sarah and Becca embraced a totally new lifestyle and dedicated their energy to self-care in all its forms: meditation, yoga and spiritual work.

At the time, they were struggling to find a home in California. Sarah shared this struggle with her shamanic counselor, who connected with the spirit of their new home. She saw a big red barn in the middle of green rolling hills and told Sarah that when she and Becca were at their new home, they would hear owls in the trees.

Serendipitously, Sarah and Becca had planned a trip to Vermont to visit Becca’s family farm. On their first night at the farm, which has a big red barn in the middle of rolling green hills, just as Sarah’s coach had described, Sarah and Becca went outside and heard owls in the trees.

Their next step was clear. They returned to California, where Sarah worked for another month while Becca packed and got rid of most of their belongings. Then, they set out to start a new chapter in Vermont.

Though Becca never expected to return to her East Coast roots when she moved to California, Vermont always called to her.

“Something about the land, the lush greenery, the distinct seasons and the water had always felt like home to me,” Becca reflects.

After moving east they met Ian Diamondstone, the owner of New Forest Organics and a spice trader who works with small family farms all over the world directly sourcing ingredients like turmeric, vanilla, cardamom, and nutmeg. Ian, their neighbor, brought Becca and Sarah a bag of ojoche (pronounced OH-HO-CHAY) to try. They had never heard of it, but found that its nutty, mocha-like flavor tasted just like coffee.

Unbeknownst to Ian, Becca and Sarah had been searching for a good coffee alternative, after caffeine became too acidic for their bodies back in California. They learned that ojoche was even prepared in a similar way to coffee—best in a French press—mimicking the morning ritual of coffee-making that Sarah and Becca missed as much as the taste.

They went back to Ian and asked where to get more.

“You can’t,” he replied. “I’ll have to bring you some more in my suitcase the next time I go to Nicaragua!”

Surprised that they had never heard of ojoche, Becca and Sarah sought to learn more about it. “Ojoche” is the indigenous Nicaraguan name for the large, nutrient-packed Ramón seed (about the size of an acorn) native to Central America. It is also sometimes known as the “Maya nut.”

The seeds, or nuts, are toasted and ground into powder, which is used to steep the coffee-like beverage. Being a zero-waste food, the grounds can also be used in baked goods and as a flour replacement.

Ojoche is a complete, high-quality protein packed with vitamins (A,B,C and E), minerals, antioxidants and high in potassium, fiber, calcium, iron and zinc. It is also prebiotic, gluten-free, low-glycemic and free of caffeine and other stimulants, allergens or toxins. Though it is not well known (even in Central America where it is sourced), ojoche can be traced back to the Mayans, so it is thought to be an ancient superfood because of its nutrient density.

Ian had been trying for some time to create a market for ojoche in the United States, but in seeing Becca and Sarah’s enthusiasm, he decided to pass that task on to them. They accepted the challenge and added ojoche to their product portfolio.

“In expanding from tea to include ojoche, Sarah and I thought a lot about a business name,” Becca says. “We kept coming around to the concept and mantra that food is medicine.”

They chose “Healing From Foods” for their business because it embodies the idea that our health comes first and foremost from the foods we eat and the practices we use to grow that food.

Ian connected Becca and Sarah with the women in Nicaragua who he had worked with for more than 20 years. Maritsa, who spearheads the ojoche operation in Nicaragua, is incredibly passionate not only about creating income for these women, but also about the reforestation of hardwood trees like the ojoche canopy tree, which is threatened by extinction due to the popularity of the wood.

Maritsa’s passions match Sarah and Becca’s personal commitment to support women and people of color to create a better, more sustainable future for our planet.

“Sustainability is very important to me,” Sarah says. “We are always sourcing more sustainable packaging for our products and reusing materials, so we don't further pollute or dump more garbage into the earth. We want to be able to pay a living wage when we need to hire employees, and we want to make sure our work space is positive and safe for future employees.”

The same goes for those in their supply chain. The women who wild-harvest the ojoche in Nicaragua are some of the poorest people in Central America. They live outside of town and have little-to-no source of income, as jobs are already in short supply and they have no means of transportation. They prefer to harvest ojoche, in particular, because it is so naturally abundant near where they live and thus, less back breaking work. Without the monetary risk of having to invest in farming, these women can just go out and harvest the Ramón seeds when it's time.

By creating a U.S. market for ojoche, starting in southern Vermont and the Monadnock region of New Hampshire, Becca and Sarah are able to support these amazing Nicaraguan women to earn income that empowers them to support their children and families, and to help their communities grow stronger as well.

Importing ojoche also enables Healing from Foods to offer the numerous health benefits of this superfood to Americans. Becca and Sarah have seen ojoche help everyone from children who are not getting enough nutrition, to athletes wanting to improve their health, to older adults dealing with arthritis, osteoporosis, cramping and stroke prevention. A natural galactagogue, ojoche has been used in traditional medicine to help pregnant or nursing mothers increase milk production.

“Ojoche has helped us so much personally and we see so many ways in which it is helping those around us. So many of our customers are able to drop coffee completely and switch to something that not only gives them a natural energy boost without the crash, but actually nourishes their bodies,” Becca said.

“The products we sell are things we have used for ourselves that have benefited us in some way. I hope we can continue to build a healthy and thriving business for ourselves and the world,” Sarah added.

*Sarah Lauren Dal Balcon and Becca Dixon, Founders of Healing From Foods*

Learn more about ojoche and Healing from Foods on their website here and follow Sarah and Becca on Facebook and Instagram.

Healing From Foods with Sustainable Ojoche

Instead, she turned to the knowledge and tools she had gleaned throughout her life and career, and leveraged a combination of foods and supplements, as well as energy and spiritual work to heal.

Inspired by their ability to heal themselves, but also as a matter of life or death, Sarah and Becca embraced a totally new lifestyle and dedicated their energy to self-care in all its forms: meditation, yoga and spiritual work.

“Something about the land, the lush greenery, the distinct seasons and the water had always felt like home to me,” Becca reflects.

Maritsa’s passions match Sarah and Becca’s personal commitment to support women and people of color to create a better, more sustainable future for our planet.