From the Blog
Local Kombucha on Tap from Agri-Cultured at Your Co-op
Waukee, Iowa
Sarah Underberg of Agri-Cultured fermented foods is a pioneer in making live cultured foods in Iowa.
Her business making raw kombucha, sauerkrauts, pickles, and kimchi is the first not-solely-kombucha live-cultured business in Iowa to be licensed, paving the way for other Iowa food businesses!
Sarah started her business five years ago when her husband, a former Iowa Hawkeye football player, started having a gluten intolerance and joint pain.
Doing some research, fermented foods just kept coming up.
After changing their diets, gluten intolerance isn’t a problem for him and she’s no longer experiencing lactose intolerance!
One night her husband told her,
“We really need to tell people about this… I mean start a business. I just want you to think about it and decide.”
A couple days later she said, “I think you’re right! This is what we need to do.”
They started really small, selling sauerkrauts at the Des Moines farmers market, and she started teaching group classes over whole food meals she prepares in Waukee each Tuesday.
“After a week, people tell us they feel good from the inside out. We’re changing lives one gut at a time,”
Sarah says.
“We’re giving people that missing link in their food chain.”
Sarah’s Agri-Cultured kombucha is on tap at all New Pi stores by the bottle or growler! Bonus: it’s on sale through this Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018!
Allison Gnade, Former New Pi Editor
Allie worked on organic farms in Italy and Sweden through WWOOF (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms), received her BA in English at Grinnell College, and studied the arts in London and Florence, eating her way across Europe and Scandinavia. Returning home to Iowa, she loved working at Grinnell Heritage Farm with her now-husband as their first farm interns, then moved to Iowa City to work at your local, independent cooperative grocery! She helped coordinate New Pi events and edited the Co-op's local food magazine and blog for eight years. She bakes tarts for Iowa City’s Farmers’ Market, covers communications for the International Writing Program, and volunteers on the Board for Table to Table food rescue.