Looking at the Holistic Picture

Farmtrue founders explain their approach to the natural practice of Ayurveda.

By Nina Livingstone

I realize now that my parents unwittingly brushed up against Ayurvedic practices, never realizing that the path they followed was based on 5,000-year-old teachings.

With a growing family, my parents’ lives demanded that they be both organized and economical. The other parts just came naturally, yet they were nothing like the Woodstock generation. My father was a chemical engineer who shunned chemicals. My mother was a homemaker who cooked from scratch and danced to music from “American Bandstand.” She had no microwave and my father discouraged having plastic containers in our kitchen. Only the occasional begged-for bag of chips and smuggled dime store candy found its way into our home.

My parents even decided to relocate us past the suburbs, landing us adjacent to farmland. Our over-sized yard held a vast organic vegetable garden, allowing us to eat seasonally. We purchased milk from a dairy farm that used glass bottles. My mother used healing oils in our baths and on our bodies. We didn’t know about doshas but we knew what worked.

Offering an in-depth look into Ayurvedic practices are Farmtrue founders Lynn Goodwin and Kim Welch, who have made it their business to teach others the science behind the practice.

Q: Where did the name Farmtrue come from?

We chose Farmtrue as our business name because it represents both Ayurveda and our commitment to mindfully staying close to nature, the land, and the source of our nourishment. Without farms and farmers, we cannot sustain a viable food system for all. It is part of Farmtrue’s mission to work closely with local US farmers in hopes that we can keep our food sources close to home. From an Ayurvedic perspective, one of the goals is to help each individual understand their “True” nature. This true nature can be understood in terms of our individual constitution/dosha or mind/body type which is composed of the natural elements in nature: earth, water, air, fire, ether. We are built of the same materials that we witness in nature itself. Understanding how these elements show up within us is the basis for understanding who we are, what our tendencies are, and what foods and lifestyle choices will best support us. Our True nature also goes beyond just how we understand our physical self but can help lead us towards our deeper, spiritual path that reveals our connection to the larger whole, to everything and everyone.

Q. How did you meet and what is your training?

We met nine years ago when we were both attending a local Ayurvedic workshop. That workshop really sparked our interest and desire to learn more about Ayurveda. We started to implement the healthy living tools into our own lifestyle and noticed big shifts in how we felt – the teachings just made so much sense to us! We decided to further our studies together through the California College of Ayurveda’s Ayurvedic Health Educator program where we learned more about the pathology of disease, how to address the root cause of imbalances and treat with the five sense therapies, and how to identify your constitution of “dosha” and live accordingly in to feel balanced in body, mind, and spirit.

Q: How would you explain Farmtrue’s mission?

Our mission statement: “At Farmtrue, everything we do stays true to our unwavering commitment to be more connected – to ourselves, each other, and nature. By honoring the true you, we modernize self-care for optimal sleep, digestion, and energy: the three governing pillars of health. It’s a sincere conviction rooted in the ancient philosophy of Ayurveda, one that inspires us to eat, live, and act with more care.”

Since launching our business with ghee over seven years ago, we have been committed to mindful ingredient sourcing by supporting USDA organic grassfed dairy farms. We are also motivated to educate our customers and community on the healthy living practices of Ayurveda and product benefits so that they can easily incorporate Ayurvedic routines into their daily routines.

Q: To someone who knows nothing about Ayurveda, how would you describe it?

Ayurveda translates into the science or wisdom of life. It is a complete system of health and healing that aims to understand the root cause of disease rather than simply treating the symptoms.

The three pillars of health are food (digestion), sleep, and management of our energy. When these areas are balanced, we are healthy.

Ayurveda teaches us that we each have a unique body-mind type or constitution (dosha). If we understand the nature of our constitution, then we are able to live a balanced life, one where we can select the appropriate foods, exercise routines, work, and projects that will best suit us.
Other principles of Ayurveda include mindful eating, seasonal eating, and morning routines to cleanse the sense organs and set the foundation for the day ahead.

Q: It’s summer, what should I eat?

Summer is characterized by the element of fire and all of its qualities including hot, sharp, intense, and light. Regardless of your dosha, anyone can become imbalanced during this time of year and become overheated, burnt out, and short-tempered. There is also a greater potential for hyper-acidity or heartburn in the digestive system. Ayurveda recommends balancing these qualities of the season by eating cooling, seasonal, grounding foods such as cucumbers, watermelon, mint, ghee, root vegetables, raw salads, cilantro, avocado, and coconut and grains like basmati rice and quinoa. Avoiding eating foods such as fermented foods, black pepper, tomatoes, and alcohol.

Q: What is ghee and why is it prominent in your product line?

Ghee is very important in Ayurvedic medicine and is considered to be the most nourishing and hydrating oil. It has so many health benefits when taken both internally and applied externally on the skin. Ghee is easily digestible because we remove all of the lactose and casein during the cooking process. It also promotes healthy digestion and acts as a carrier oil – meaning that it is easily absorbable and actually carries all of the nourishment from the food that you are cooking the ghee in directly into the tissues of the body.

Ghee combats dryness in the body and in the mind which helps with healthy elimination of and extraction of toxins in the digestive system and with calming the mind. Ghee helps the healthy bacteria in the gut to thrive!

Q: I’ve always cooked with ghee, yet you have ghee products that you apply to your skin? Is it the same?

Yes, we use the same traditional, organic, grass-fed ghee as one of the base oils in our body care products and infuse Ayurvedic herbs into it. Ghee feeds the skin’s microbiome, hydrates and carries the herbs deep into the layers of the skin.

Q: You offer everything from spices to tea to body oils and meditation candles, how does this come together to promote an Ayurvedic lifestyle?

Ayurveda has a body, mind, spirit approach to wellness so we developed a product line that supports the whole person through traditional Ayurvedic routines.  Everything that we eat and all of our lifestyle choices impact body, mind and spirit.

Our ghee, spice blends, and kitchari support healthy digestion. Our skin care products such as seasonal body oils, support hydrated, nourished skin while also easing stress and relaxing the mind.  Our ghee candle supports a mediation practice by helping to cool, calm and focus the mind. We all know that meditation is one of the best tools for managing stress.

Q: In today’s stress-filled society, where we are constantly exposed to chemicals, both in what we put on our bodies and in our bodies, how does Ayurveda assist in countering the damaging effects of these?

Ayurveda is all about cleansing and detoxing through diet and lifestyle. There are specific foods that assist the body in naturally releasing toxins. Kitchari is a simple Ayurvedic meal that gives the digestive system a reset and promotes healthy elimination of toxins. There are numerous cleansing foods and spices that can be incorporated into your diet such as ginger, pepper, coriander, fennel, beets, apples, and arugula. Ghee is also used in seasonal cleanses to promote the elimination of toxins.

The Ayurvedic practices such as tongue scraper and Oil Pulling helps to cleanse the sense organs and “pull” toxins from the digestive system.

It’s true that there are many environmental stressors. From a lifestyle perspective, Ayurveda teaches us to be mindful of our environment and what we are taking in through our five senses. Slowing down, spending time in nature, and meditating all help to counter these stressors.

Q: What area of your business are you the most interested in expanding?

It has always been part of our mission to provide Ayurvedic education to our customers and simplify the teachings so that they are accessible to everyone, regardless of their background in yoga or Ayurveda. We look forward to teaching more workshops, creating blog content, and publishing recipes Ayurvedic living tool kits.

This story was originally published on July 16th, 2021, on New England Doorstep Market.