Showtime: Green living & organic expo

Business events: The Green Living Show and NZ Organic Natural Expo takes place at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland on Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30.

What does it take to live a healthy lifestyle? The Green Living Show and NZ Organic Natural Expo aims to show people some of the ingredients for a healthy body, mind, and spirit.

For some people that means fitness, nutrition and weight management solutions, vitamins and supplements. Other visitors to the ASB Showgrounds will be looking for different ways to build, travel, power their homes and workplaces.

There will be seminars on current affairs, trends, health and innovation, and experts explaining how companies can build a wellness programme to improve employee health.

tesla roadsterThere's an Eco Chic Fashion Show, showcasing work from young designers, and big green toys like a Tesla Roadster, a battery electric sports car with a carbon fibre body that can go from zero to 100 km/h in four seconds with zero emissions.

Going green can be taken literally: an area of the Green Living Expo will be set aside for the Go Veg Boulevard, where people can taste samples and learn how to cook healthy vegetarian food.

There are sound ecological arguments for cutting down on meat consumption, even going vegetarian one or two days a week, if not completely. It lowers one's carbon footprint, reduces pollution, and saves energy and water.

Adrian Barkla2One of the exhibitors will be Remuera New World supermarket, which carries organic fruit and vegetables on its shelves at similar prices to the conventional produce next to it. Owner operator Adrian Barkla says sales have taken off, averaging $30,000 a week up from $1000 a year ago. "I'm a bit of an organic nutter. I've always been interested in organics and I now have the ability to influence the market by giving growers demand to grow to and the confidence to grow a wider range of organic produce," Barkla says. He says making organic produce the norm rather than the exception will help New Zealand to improve on its clean green image. It also creates a larger market for organics, making it better for growers. The supermarket will show a sample of its range of more than 400 organic grocery items and fresh organic produce, as well as serving up fruit, vegetable and wheat grass juice shots.

It will also sell a sample of Musical Knives take-home salads made by chef Peter Chaplin, who will be demonstrating 'In the Raw' at 1pm Saturday at the show's live demo kitchen.

Information overload??

Throughout the two days of the Green Living Expo there will be free talks and demonstrations from designers, doctors, architects, chefs and other professionals. General practitioner Helen Smith from the Auckland Holistic Centre will speak at noon on Saturday on natural options for women's health. "A lot of people go to their GP and get put on antidepressants. I look at ways to improve their mood and try to look underneath what's happening. Are they missing any nutrients, and what do their blood tests say," Smith says. "I try to get people to eat whole foods, fruit and vegetables, and to look at the underlying nutritional factors. New Zealand soils are low in minerals like magnesium, zinc and selenium, and supplements may be needed." She's been taking this approach for a decade, after tiring on the standard GP approach of reaching for the prescription pad after a quick consult

Where: ASB Showgrounds, Auckland

When: Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30, from 10am-5pm each day

To buy tickets and find out more about the show visit organicexpo.co.nz