Good Oil: A New Food Revolution
The range of olive oils we are presented with in supermarkets today is mesmerizing. From the finest and most expensive Extra Virgin for drizzling over a salad to the everyday oil used to soften onions or garlic, olive oil is ubiquitous.
In fact, it forms the basis of so much of our cooking that it’s easy to forget that only a generation ago, the basis of every dish would more likely be a slab of butter or animal fat. But there’s a new food revolution that began in Devon – the West Country of England – that could change our culinary habits again.
GOOD OIL, cold pressed from natural hemp seed, has taken an ingredient with legendary health credentials, more commonly found in health food stores, to being pride of place next to the olive oil bottle in the kitchens of the finest cooks.
Glynis Murray and Henry Braham were looking for environmentally sustainable crops to grow on their farm in Devon in the mid 1990s. Hemp, one of the oldest crops in northern Europe, had recently been reintroduced into the UK. And they started by growing the crop for fibre.
But when we tasted the seeds in the fields, they were delicious. We thought it’s time we started paying attention to hemp seed for its taste rather than simply its health qualities.
Henry
Unlike many oils, GOOD OIL is completely unprocessed, which means the quality of the raw ingredient is critical. Without the option of refining, common in culinary oils, it took 10 years to develop this unique oil for the kitchen. 
High profile cooks were quick to convert: Jamie Oliver "loves GOOD OIL".
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the highly respected TV chef in the UK says:
As a ‘gourmet’ oil, it stacks up with the best extra virgin olive oils, having plenty of character for trickling on toast, over soups and salads, and making all kinds of dressings. And - perhaps the ultimate test - it makes terrific roast (sautéed) potatoes.
The nutritional excitement attached to hemp seed is the high level of omega 3 and GLA (the active Omega 6 ingredient in Evening Primrose Oil) with all the benefits that have become well known.
While Olive Oil has high levels of omega 6 and fish oils are good for omega 3, hemp seed is extraordinary in that it is the only natural source of all the essential omegas. Even better, they are contained in a perfect ratio, which makes them easy to metabolise.
Glynis and Henry explain that the whole story behind hemp fuels their passion about GOOD OIL.
But, we’re not great ones for being told ‘take this, it’s good for you. says Glynis. We like to be told ‘try this, it tastes great.
So whilst nutritionally the oil has a lot to offer, taste is still of huge importance. More recently, GOOD OIL has become the champion of low carbon consumers. The hemp grown for GOOD OIL is exceptionally efficient at capturing carbon and doesn’t use pesticides.
In fact the straw from the hemp plant is used in highly thermal efficient building products which lock carbon. Typically, a bottle of GOOD OIL causes enough hemp to be grown to lock the same amount of carbon produced by a 64km car journey.
This is relevant to the new food revolution, where we are asking more questions about our food ingredients and are making choices that not only benefit our cooking, but how they effect the environment and our own wellbeing. Braham & Murray are experts in hemp for food and nutrition. They are the largest producers of hemp products in Europe.
GOOD OIL is available throughout the UK in supermarkets Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tesco (500ml for £5.99) and good independent retailers.
For further product information and to purchase Good Oil - please visit www.goodwebsite.co.uk