Happy Fermenting
by Amanda G. Verkest
March 3, 2021
Did you know fermented foods like sauerkraut and yogurt are better, more bioavailable probiotics than any probiotic supplement? Or that your gut microbiome is responsible for hormone regulation of compounds like serotonin that is responsible for giving us all the happy feels? Well, it’s true!
Fermented foods are rich in live probiotics that have been proven to not only regulate mood and memory but also aid in immune function and decrease inflammation. Fermenting foods can even add nutrition to fresh greens like kale by increasing the nutrient absorption of minerals by over 200%! If you’re a gardener, fermenting some of the vegetables you grow can help you get the most out of your garden year-after-year while ensuring you routinely get probiotics in your diet.
Currently, at Gaining Ground Grocery, we have a few options you can use to make fermented foods at home with as little as 2-5 ingredients. Sauerkraut can be made from cabbage (Mountain Sun Farm and Bethelem Center) and unrefined salt. Fermented kale can be made with kale (City Farms and 2 Angels Mushrooms), carrots (Mountain Sun Farm and Crabtree Farms), fennel or dill, water, and unrefined salt like in this YouTube video.
Additionally, if DIY isn’t your thing, you can add probiotics to your diet by purchasing some of the organic tempeh (fermented soybeans) we carry from Short Mountain Cultures, or the cheeses we routinely have in stock from Sequatchie Cove Farm and Ocoee Creamery. Another excellent probiotic-rich option to add to your diet is kombucha, a fermented tea. We currently have a variety of kombucha flavors as well as water kefir and kvass from Short Mountain Cultures out of middle Tennessee. Blue Indian Kombucha, a Chattanooga company, also makes a variety of fermented beverage options locally and can be found at the Main Street Farmers Market on Wednesdays.
Amanda is an experienced food scientist, Chattanooga native, and weekly volunteer at Gaining Ground Grocery. She is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Global Studies and International Relations with a concentration in Global Student Mobility and Sustainable Development from Northeastern University.
Feel free to reach out to her for any and all fermentation questions or comments.
