Thank You

1/28/09
Hello Michael,

I just purchased a little radio to play classical music in my wheatgrass room yesterday after watching your DVD. Also, changed all of my incandescent bulbs at home to the full-spectrum or "enhanced spectrum" last night after information on your Video. The difference is wonderful. One of my dearest customers, Federal Judge, Tucker Melancon, is a graduate of your 3 week course. He continues to stay clean from cancer from information he learned at your institute. Tucker says that your wheatgrass is fabulous tasting. I keep mine very well-watered. I wonder if you would share some tips with me, or if that is classified info, that is absolutely fine. When will your new DVD be out for people who have a business selling wg? I can hardly wait for it. I will send the clip of Tucker being interviewed by the most respected news anchor in his area in the email that follows. You will love it. Much Thanks & Respect, Paula

1/27/09
I really appreciated your lectures while I was at Hippocrates for the Life Change Program. Since I have graduated from HHI, I have been successful at growing not only wheatgrass, but also radish, clover, alfalfa, pea, and sunflower sprouts. Everything you stated during the lectures started to fall in place for me. I wrote down details and followed them as accurately as possible when I started my adventure of growing food. You are very good at what you do-both instructing others and in growing the living food. However, my wheatgrass does not taste as good as yours!
   I would like to thank you for helping me to learn so much about growing my own 'medicinal' plants. I came to HHI with many health challenges. Doctors had told me that my body was doing a shutdown and crashing so I needed to take all kinds of medications. After having wheatgrass daily at HHI, I healed immensely. I have a long journey to achieve optimal health but it gets shorter every day with more improvements. Now I grow and take my own medicine daily instead of prescriptions.
    At first, I was concerned that I would not be able to continue healing when I got home, especially without support from family. Your instructions seemed so simple yet I still wondered if I could do it since I do not have a green thumb. I jumped right into it with both feet hoping not to drown. Soon I harvested my first crop and I was so thrilled. Growing my own food was overwhelming at first yet I remembered things you said during lectures. I also read your handouts and watched your DVD that helped me. You taught me how to grow the most important supplements I needed to take for taking control of my health.
   I share my story with others about the ups and downs I experienced in trying to grow my first 'crops'. At times I still find it challenging to manage numerous crops at once and lose track of what I should be doing with each one. I have cut back on the variety until I can figure out a 'routine'.
   I loved your passion about growing food that all of us need to have every day. You shared your knowledge with guests at HHI in such a wonderful way. You have great personality that gave us humor when we needed it the most during our healing adventures. I have replayed your DVD just to bring a smile to a challenging day. You are a special person! HHI is lucky to have you on their staff. I know I will be back sometime in 2009 to thank you in person!

Thanks again,
Sharon
Reno, NV

1/25/09
You're amazing... The video is amazing. Thank you!

We saw this at Brenda Cobbe's Living Foods Institute but only on the last day so not all students had a chance to view it. I think it's the competition thing. However, one of the gals wished you were older. She loved your energy. Are you single? hahahaaaa

Now...did we just make your day?!?

I may be in touch if I can wrap my head around a business idea.

Thanks again and have the best day!
Debbie

11/22/08
Dear Michael,

I used the juicer for the first time yesterday morning and I could not be any more pleased with my purchase. It's incredibly easy to set up, plenty sturdy, and the juice tastes fabulous! Working as a professionally licensed massage therapist I will have no trouble recommending it to the many others I come into contact with. Thanks so much for your insights and assistance regarding all things wheatgrass and I look forward to keeping the connection as I move deeper into the world of wheatgrass juicing. Today I will watch the dvd so that I may begin putting the rest of the pieces in place for setting up my growing trays. Take good care and God bless.

Respectfully,

Mitch

11/15/08
Hi Michael,

I heard you speak at the Whole Life Expo this weekend in Toronto and nice to hear you enjoy visiting Toronto. I wanted to say it was great to hear and see someone who had a lot of energy. I got a good first impression in the first few moments, even before you told us with drinking wheatgrass. What I mean by this is you were enthusiastic about life and health, I could hear it in your voice and you care. Also, great to see you enjoy yourself and had some jokes, I had a few laughs. I really like that you reminded us to breathe. Yes, we truly need 'more' oxygen to the brain with these breaths. I also believe some or more plants are needed in our work and home environment. I've been meaning to get a few more plants in my enviro, and will look into this. I've heard some plants are 'healthier/safe' than others. As you mentioned there was a reason we were all at the expo.. and seeing/hearing you was great for me.

I didn't end up meeting you, though I purchased a juicer and video, and the lady said I could email you if I ever had questions. I might also keep you posted on how my 'growing' is going. I haven't heard of your company or checked out your website yet, though I'll be reading a bit more. With me not meeting you I wanted to let you know the above.. I could sense you are a really great person, thanks for caring and sharing with others.

Take care,
Melanie

I love my wheatgrass juicer. I already had a Tribest Z-Star Manual Juicer which cost $95.00 on amazon, but I wanted to have a juicer for work. I couldn't see how your juicer could work better but it did. I was shocked at how well it worked. It even clean up much easier. I get more juice and it does not back up like my tribest do. Thank you so much for such a efficient yet inexpensive product.

9/28/08
Hi Michael,

My boyfriend & I were at your presentation on May 31st and totally enjoyed the knowledge gained. At the time I purchased from you a juicer for $45.00 and since then my boyfriend has permanently borrowed it from me, using it instead of his $450. unit. I would like to purchase another $45.00 juicer and would like to know if I can purchase wheatgrass from you (already cut & bagged)? If so, can I come to you tomorrow to pick it up.
Thanks,

Gail

9/28/08
Michael:
Thanks for the wonderful, informative lecture. It more than exceeded your reputation and my expectations.
TIA;
Steve

9/28/08
Thank you so much for a terrific lecture on Saturday! Very informative ...not to mention entertaining! :>
I have a sheltie with Bladder cancer + was very glad to hear about giving her wheatgrass juice. THANK YOU!
I have also read about feeding the pulp, in small, doses in pet's food. Have you ever done this??? Would appreciate any other pet info/knowledge you could share.
Thanks for a fabulous lecture. :> peace--out!

9/20/08
Hi Michael,
While i was there at Hippocrates in Dec. for a wheatgrass class, i picked up a copy of the Conscious Communication cd that you made. I have listened to it again and again and each time i come away with more "soul food". Thank you for doing what you do and being who you are. It has enriched my life on a very deep level. Looking forward to spending time @ Hippocrates and gathering more tools to use in my tool box for life.

Sincerely, Teresa

9/20/08
Hi Mike,
I just received your DVD, and I watched it immediately...it was AWESOME. You provided all the needed information and took the mystery out of growing wheatgrass (and made it entertaining !)...thank you for all the information you provided. I now feel confident to begin growing it myself....
Thanks for the insight on juicers, too. I am going to order the electric Healthy Juicer (you saved me a lot of $$ because some of the other juicers I was looking at were up to $800+ !!!...and I just assumed the more expensive it was the better it was).
Thanks again,
Jim

interesting comments. i agree that LIFE and moving beyond fear - i.e. being psychologically and emotionally healthy and positive rather than fearful and negative (if that's basically what you meant) is crucial to one's overall health. it is infinitely interesting to see how so many factors effect our health and longevity.

if there are any books or websites in particular that you recommend, i'd be interested in them. i've read some wigmore, some cousens, some bragg and a smattering of others over the years. most of what i read pertained to the physiological, not the larger or spiritual picture. i prefer to learn from people who have already been down the road i'm on. i can come to my own conclusions after learning from them first.

thanks in the meantime for your feedback. yes, it definitely helps because you have actually spent time applying the teachings in the books and observing how yourself and others respond in real life to these lifestyle/ nutrition concepts.

7/15/08
Michael,
I left you a brief voicemail earlier,but I wanted to finish that thought... and give you a little backround on me.

Thank you so much for such a straight forward, heart felt seminar
today... I know you've given this talk in the past, but this
time it was different... I was here for a month in January and February
this year. Although we've only met a few times in passing, I feel like
I genuinely connected with you today. I respect all of your views...
...

I leave this place Friday, before I come back for health educator program this
fall, back to my life in Orlando of playing event planner, sister, aunt, and the
girl that's supposed to have it all together... but this time I'm
going home enlightened and more clear then I've ever felt. You have played
a huge part in assisting me with looking within, and I just want to
thank you for that... Judgment by people will always be around, but
just know you are doing an amazing thing by telling your story... I'm
like you when it comes to opening up to people. Sure, I'm surrounded by
people all the time, but feeling comfortable and trusting enough to
open up is a whole different story. So, with all that being said...
I've been in tears since you spoke. It's the release I know I've needed in order
to start healing. I hope when I come back for the health educator, we can get
a chance to chat or even sit in silence... not enough people seem to know how to embrace that...

I think your awesome, and if you were meant to be a
teacher or healer in this life time, you're definitely fullfilling
that...

Have a blessed rest of the week

Sincerely,

Michelle

Your responses to my questions were very helpful, thanks. I enrolled in the class yesterday; looking forward to it!

Cheers,

Renee

7/1/08
Thanks for your time last Thursday when Ed and I took a tour with Jodie. We came back to your greenhouse and discussed the Education program. You were very kind with your time and I wanted to thank you for that. You had inspired me to start 100% raw diet with drinking 2oz of wheatgrass for the past 2 days. I just won a bid on ebay for a wheatgrass juicer last nite and am hoping to get it here mid week. I also bought your DVD on Sprouting Seeds and Growing Wheatgrass, and hope to get started growing this week. I had already started growing sprouts (see attached photo of my 1st round in being a sprout farmer. I am looking to get some info on how to grow sprouts and wheatgrass on a larger scale.

After viewing your DVD I was inspired by your suggestion of converting an Ice Cream Truck into a mobile Green Drink and Smoothie service. Do you know anyone who has successfully done such a venture and do you have a contact name or number.

I may be coming up tomorrow for some wheatgrass supplies.

TTFN
Keith

First of all, allow myself…to ...introduce....myself. My name is Michael Bergonzi, Greenhouse / Expo Manager / Health Educator Director at Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, FL for the past seven years. My career in the field of alternative health & wheatgrass began in San Diego, CA back in 1990. Growing grass for a living and not ending up in jail seemed like a pretty cool job! Ok, I'll take it! Of course, the cost per one ounce is $1.00 rather than $350.00! =)

Most people now a days have at least heard of wheatgrass juice if not actually tasted it themselves from a juice bar or health food store. (There are always some people that enjoy drinking it, but no one ever hangs around those people!) The taste of wheatgrass is not always a pleasant one and we are told that it must be our bodies that are detoxing. However, that is not always the case. For example, as a wheatgrass grower, I would bring a tray of grass to the health food store, ready to juice. If they juiced it that day, it would not taste at all bitter or cause that nausea feeling. But, they choose instead to put it in the store window for a display for people to see it, and now it stays in the window for two more days in which the sun shines on it, which it should never. They haven’t watered it, which they should everyday, and now, that same sweet tasting wheatgrass has aged almost 80 years in two days. It’s kind of like people, the older it gets, the more bitter it becomes! =) Wheatgrass should be harvested when a second blade becomes visible, and then the entire tray needs to be cut at the same time. It may then be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week without losing it’s value and taste.

Let’s talk about the ‘greens’ on the planet Earth. First of all, everyone can agree that we, as humans, are mammals. Most of the mammals on this planet are living on leafy greens. In fact, we are one of the few mammals that still eat meat and the only mammal that cook our food. To say that protein only comes from eating meat is an uneducated statement. Sprouts, sprouted beans and GREENS are the best source of proteins for our bodies. Think about it on a bigger scale. How is it possible that most every mammal (and you all agreed that WE humans are mammals) can live on eating just leafy greens? Elk, moose, deer, giraffes, gorillas, elephants, horses, etc… and don’t forget the one that WE get most of our food here in the USA from, the COW!!! Ahhhhhhh… and here is the problem now a days. You see, in the past, when you lived on red meat and dairy products, in-directly you lived on GRASS. The cow was eating the grass; we were eating the cow. It just makes sense. We were getting the EARTH in our diets. But, today, that is NOT the case. Most cows are now trough fed, mostly grains, which are making their systems too acid base, and are having to be shot full of antibiotics, steroids and of course hormones. They go over to the trough, eat as much as they can, and now want to take a nap because they are ‘full.’ (Ringing true to us as humans these days who drive through the fast food joint, meaning WE are being trough fed too! Staying full, getting tired and staying sick.) A cow taking a nap because it’s too full? Are you kidding me? So, the problem now is our red meat and dairy aren’t what they used to be. We are not getting the GRASS (green / earth) in our diet any longer. Look, I have been in this field now for 17 years, too long to judge anyone for what they choose to eat. I just want to educate people on “what’s simple is TRUE.” Get the Earth back in your diet, more oxygen back into your cells and exercise once a day. (yoga, walking, stretching, etc…)

OK. Is any of this making sense yet? Let’s go to the first thing your body needs to live. Before food, before water, you need OXYGEN!!! Everyone reading this, please pause for a moment and take a DEEP BREATH… Count to three on the inhale and three on the exhale. Wasn’t that good? Let’s face it, the only people that really focus on breath these days, unless you’re into yoga, thai-chi or meditation, are smokers! =( Personally, I smoked for 10 years, and I know why I felt the ‘need’ for a cigarette, because it would relax me. Exactly, what are you doing when you smoke? (You now have to leave your job and go outside the building. Amen to that law, so you get a bit of stress relief too.) You’re BREATHING DEEP, for the first time all day. I am NOT encouraging smoking, however, I am encouraging breathing. Try it without the “stick.” Walk away from people, your job, etc… and go somewhere, by yourself, and spend 5 minutes breathing deep. It’s amazing how much calmer you will be after doing this.

Now, let’s take a moment and go back to how ‘wheat’ grass came to light. A woman by the name of Ann Wigmore founded Hippocrates in Boston approx. 50 years ago. She actually healed her own health issues by chewing on ‘lawn’ grass. That’s right; I said lawn grass, not wheatgrass. She began chewing on it and got sick for many weeks, but stayed with it till she eventually started feeling better and better. She learned that the grass / greens were the most complete foods on the planet, as well as having other healing properties. The wheat seed was chosen because of its sweeter, more palatable taste. (Her cat picked it out.) She also learned that the green / chlorophyll will increase the hemoglobin in the blood which then distributes oxygen to every cell in our body. Take another deep breath! Remember that oxygen is a good thing? Ann started this because of watching the animals do it, as well as a statement that was made to her as a child, “Instinct guided creatures, left to them selves, do not make mistakes.” (I LOVE that one.) Most of us chewed on grass as children, if it was around. Why then and not now? We lost sight of our instinct. Here’s a FYI on oxygen content on the planet these days: 100 years ago, there was over 30% and now it is at an average of 15%. The most out there, if you live in a lush, green area, is 21%. However, in downtown major cities it is down to 9% or less. Does anyone remember ‘smog alerts’? I do, but not since 1990, when they stopped telling people. Fact: Oxygen in the cells means less chance for cancer to survive. GREENS = Chlorophyll = increased hemoglobin = more OXYGEN in your cells. GET IT NOW? Don’t forget, fresh wheatgrass juice is the best way to FEEL a difference. Drinking 2 ounces / day on an empty stomach is optimum.

In closing, remember these two simple words: “Stay Present.” More too come on GREENS and sprouted beans next month… Till then, yours in the greenhouse at Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, FL, breathing in approx. 30% oxygen everyday, Michael Bergonzi