About Connie

Philosophy

Connie's role is to provide the tools for others to build, revitalize, and maintain radiant health. This is done on every level, literally from the ground up. At their farm, they have spent decades working on achieving a healthy soil balance that is full of life. This vital force or energy in the land creates healthy plants for the animals and, ultimately, healthy people. It is the life in the food that gives us life. The farm store offers an opportunity for individuals to connect directly with a farmer with a superior product. Research has shown that grass fed meat has higher levels of omega -3 fatty acids, lecithin, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), beta-carotene and vitamin E that conventionally produced meats.

Good nutrition is the foundation for good health. Our bodies work best with the best quality foods. We were created with an amazing self-healing ability which is maintained by a whole host of delicate interacting mechanisms. The complex metabolic pathways of our body need raw materials of high quality nutrients in sufficient quantities.

The truth is our modern foods tend to be low in nutrient density, highly refined and processed and laden with sugar or sugar substitutes. Essentially, our contemporary food has left us nutritionally bankrupt and more susceptible to disease.

The good new is we can turn this around. Through diet, lifestyle and environmental influences, we can restore our body and the ecosystem we live in.

Botanical medicine and whole food nutrition can create harmony and balance, vitality, and provide deep tissue nourishment on a cellular level. The most effective way of using herbs is to take them internally, since it is from within that healing takes place.

Biography

Connie Karstens holds a BA in Biology from the University of St. Thomas with emphasis on Nutrition and Botany and a MS in Health and Nutrition Education from Hawthorn University. She taught college level nutrition for 14 years.

For over 24 years, she and her husband have worked on their 180-acre sustainable livestock farm where sheep and other livestock are grazed. Their bio-dynamic farming practices replenish the soil and make the plants and animals flourish. They are committed to keeping the land and livestock in harmony with nature. In 1997, they opened a specialty on-farm USDA processing facility and retail store called The Lamb Shoppe where naturally raised grassfed meats featuring lamb, beef, chicken, turkey and eggs and other wholesome foods are sold.

After studying Traditional Western herbalism for several years under Minnesota's most distinguished herbalists and receiving her clinical training through an apprenticeship under a nationally recognized master herbal practitioner, she began her own clinical practice in 2005. Connie uses local plants to make her own herbal tinctures, medicinal teas, oils, salves, and syrups. She also works with the Bach Flower and the Flower Essence Society (FES) Remedies and homeopathic remedies.

Connie offers private wellness holistic consultations incorporating whole foods nutrition, herbs, stress management techniques, and other natural remedies to support and build overall health and re-balance the body.

She teaches classes both privately and through Community Education and conducts workshops to facilitate health and healing.

She is a member of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals, American Herbalists Guild, North Country Herbalist Guild, Weston A. Price Foundation, Midwest Food Alliance, Sustainable Farming Association, and the American Sheep Industry Association.