Canadian Golden Flaxseed

Sherwood Park, January 2012 - Martha Urquhart knows what it means to rise from the ashes. Dislocated by the Slave Lake fire last year, Martha ended up in the company of friends in the Edmonton area when her home burned to the ground.

But every ending is also a beginning, and while shopping for the supplies to keep herself healthy, Martha met the previous owner of Canadian Golden Flaxseed and started talking - about the health benefits, about the business opportunity and about the many, many, many things that can be done to incorporate flax into your daily diet.

By September of 2011, Martha had taken over the company and started adding new products.

Her first addition, thanks to consultations with a nutritionist friend, was snack bars. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, egg-free, refined-sugar free and made of only 3 ingredients, Martha's F-cubed (Freakin' Fantastic Flax) snack bars are a thing of wonder. By combining dried fruit, ground nuts (of various varieties for different flavours) and ground flax, Martha has hit upon a perfectly healthy food that makes an excellent breakfast, an amazing lunch-on-the-go, a perfect afternoon pick-me-up and a healthy after-dinner treat. 

Her next addition was a trail mix/salad topping/ granola type thing she refers to as a 'crumble'. "Well, it's a great way to describe what it is - and it doesn't limit what you do with it, because really, the uses are unlimited." Martha says. The mixture is made with dried fruit, toasted whole flax seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin and almonds. A nut-free version is also available.

"I love talking to the customers at markets," says Martha, "It's this amazing experience to connect with all of these people on such a personal level. It's just something that you don't get to do in any other circumstance."

"The conversations I've had- I learn new things from my customers all the time and in turn I get to make sure they see exceptional value. In fact, I'm going to have cookbooks from the Flax Council available soon, so my customers will learn even more ways they can incorporate flax into their diet. And its such a healthy food - why wouldn't you want to?"

Martha's flax offerings have health benefits that definately qualify the lowly little grain as a superfood. Flax can:

• help with weight loss
• provide essential vitamins and minerals
• help lower cholesterol
• help lower blood pressure
• deliver anti-oxidants, which help protect against cancer
• provide omega fatty acids, which help prevent heart attacks and stroke
• help alleviate menopausal symptoms
• provide fibre for motility
• help stabalize blood sugars in diabetics

Over the winter months, Martha can be found at the Salisbury Market, as well as Castledowns, Downtown and the Fort Mall Public Market. In summer, Martha plans to put her kids to work helping out and add a few other markets.

"I'm really enjoying this work - it makes me feel at home!"