Saturday, March 2, 10-11:30 AM Lacto-Fermentation Workshop with Karen Geiser at UUCA
Fee: $15 per person or $22 for two family members or couple attending together
Register for the class by emailing: jtp.uuca@gmail.com
Payment should be made by Feb. 24 to the church office, payable to Karen Geiser
Come learn to make your own sauerkraut and other lacto-fermented foods. Karen Geiser will share the history of lacto fermentation, health benefits and provide recipes for making your own ferments using very basic equipment. She will demonstrate making a small batch of sauerkraut and a jar of dill pickles plus you will have a chance to sample some of their family’s favorite ferments. Attendees will receive handouts with recipes and resources. There will also be fermenting supplies available for purchase.
Karen has a small family farm near Kidron, Ohio, growing veggies, herbs, flowers and raising free ranging chickens and grass fed beef. Our family seeks to encourage others in making wise food choices and they love experimenting in the garden and kitchen.
Just what is lacto-fermentation and why is it good for my health?
According to Sandor Ellix Katz, author of The Art of Fermentation, in an NPR interview: “Bacteria in our gut enable us to live. We could not survive without bacteria. … They allow us to digest food, to assimilate the nutrients in our food; and they play a huge role, just beginning to be understood, in our immune functioning and in many other processes in our bodies. All life has evolved from bacteria and no other form of life has lived without bacteria. … Our bacteria perform all sorts of essential functions for us, and because we are continually attacking them effectively with all of these chemicals in our lives, simply replenishing and diversifying these populations has a benefit for us.”
In her book Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home, Annelies Schoneck explains the role of lacto-fermented foods:
What is astonishing is that lactic acid contributes to both processes – that of decomposition and that of reconstruction. On the one hand it supplies digestive juices in the form of organic acids that help break down the foods we eat, and on the other hand it activates the metabolic processes whereby these foods are transformed into new living substances.
Lacto-fermented foods normalize the acidity of the stomach. If stomach acidity is insufficient, it stimulates the acid-producing glands of the stomach, and in cases where acidity is too high it has the inverse effect. Lactic acid helps break down proteins and thus aids in their assimilation of iron. The decomposition in the stomach of the organic forms of iron depends on the quantity of hydrochloric acid present as well as the amount of vitamin C, which is why sauerkraut and other lacto-fermented vegetables rich in this vitamin have such a favorable influence.
…Lactic acid activates the secretions of the pancreas, which is particularly important for diabetics… Sauerkraut contains large quantities of choline, a substance that lowers blood pressure and regulates the passage of nutrients into the blood… Choline has another interesting property in that it aids the body in the metabolism of fats. If choline is lacking, fats accumulate in the liver… Sauerkraut also contains acetylcholine, which has a powerful effect on the parasympathetic nervous system. It helps reduce blood pressure, slows down the rate of heartbeat, and promotes calmness and sleep. As acetylcholine is destroyed by cooking, raw sauerkraut and its juice is preferable to cooked.
There is more health information at Is Sauerkraut a Wonder Food?
UUCA Food Justice Ministry 