Culture Revolution! A Conversation on Fermentation with Melanie Furman

1 day ago
6 min read

Meet Melanie Furman, the creatrix behind Culturalive! Fermented foods. In this conversation with the Farmland Trust, we explore the world of fermentation, microbial diversity, and the quiet revolution happening in our kitchens. Drawing from traditional food practices and her own personal health journey, Melanie shares how fermented foods like sauerkraut can support gut health, resilience, and a deeper relationship with the living systems that sustain us.

In an upcoming workshop on April 12th from 9-12 at the Root Food Hub on Beddis Road, Melanie will share her extensive knowledge about the benefits of fermentation and share with people how simple the process can be—requiring only basic ingredients, curiosity, and a willingness to observe and learn. Her work blends traditional fermentation knowledge from cultures around the world with locally grown ingredients, honoring both ancestral wisdom and the ecosystems we live within today.

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Ready to learn how fermentation can reconnect us with traditions that support both personal and planetary health? Read on!

Okay, so let’s first talk about what it is that you’re going to teach. What’s the offering you’re bringing?

I’m going to be talking about the ethics around diversity and how—especially at this point in civilization— diversity and welcoming the unknown are vital for our survival.

Microorganisms and how bacteria have always been with us since the beginning of our existence as animals and cells. Bacteria have supported our evolution—triggering hormonal activity, helping our immune system work better, activating natural defenses, and even influencing relationships with others.

Bacteria have always been with us on our journey. With what’s happening in the world today—more monoculture, sterilization, deforestation—these things are actually a threat to our ability to be sustainable and adaptive as animals and human beings.

So when we welcome bacteria and diversity in, we’re also welcoming in our survival through this crisis we’re in right now.

Please describe your upcoming course, Culture, Fermentation, Revolution!

During the day we’re together, we’ll be doing hands-on work in the kitchen at the Root. I’m hoping people will get to try a variety of produce and foods they love, as well as some they’re willing to experiment with that they might not love so much. We’ll see how fermentation can transform flavors, sampling from my kimchi, lime and lemon pickles, and more well-known saurkrauts, and create a few different ferments for participants to take home, watch them ferment, and learn from the process.

Will the ingredients be provided, or can people bring things from their own gardens or pantry?

Good question. I’ll be bringing some produce and herbs that I love to work with. But if people have special foods they like—maybe a variety of carrot they love, or a special herb they grow—they’re welcome to bring those as well and experiment with fermenting them.

You talk about the importance of diversity, and I also hear intercultural threads in the way you choose ingredients and recipes that come from places like Korea or Japan, but then mix them with wildcrafted and local species here. Can you talk a little bit about that intercultural dynamic in your work?

I try to do my best to honor the cultures and traditions where the ferments are rooted, as well as the ingredients themselves. That’s part of the diversity piece—looking beneath the surface level of consumption and asking where these foods and traditions come from.

How did people, generation after generation, cultivate a relationship with the foods they were fermenting and the bacteria, yeasts, and molds they used?

At the same time, we live in a world where it’s easy to access information, resources, and traditions. I think that’s a beautiful thing that can support and benefit us. It’s important to honor the cultures these traditions come from, while also allowing them to merge and evolve—to cultivate new relationships.

That’s what bacteria do. New molds, yeasts, or bacteria appear and establish themselves when the right environment exists. When we create the right conditions, new life comes forward.

I feel like that’s what we’re doing right now in the world. When we slow down and recognize where traditions come from and how they’ve been woven into human culture and civilization, it allows us to have deeper reverence and respect for all life.

That’s part of where the “revolution” comes in the title of the course.

Yes—it’s a quiet revolution. We need the big ones too, but this is part of it.

Can you talk a little about your own personal health journey with fermenting?

Sure. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in the late 90s. I think I was in my mid-30s at the time, and I had to change a lot of things about my life.

One of the main areas I researched was eating habits. I started learning more about how what we put in our bodies affects us. I read a book called “Healing with Whole Foods” by Paul Pitchford, and one of the things it talked a lot about was fermenting food.

Fermented vegetables like sauerkraut are anti-inflammatory. They support the gut and help the body not be so inflamed, which allows you to absorb nutrients better and reduces pain.

There were times I felt like a bit of a charlatan talking about all the benefits of sauerkraut because it can sound unbelievable! But when I started researching different cultures—like Korean culture and kimchi—I found there are scientific studies supporting these traditions.

In those cultures, fermented foods are known to help with issues like acid reflux. They can help regulate systems in the body. For example, microbiologists now know that most of our serotonin is produced in the gut.

When the gut isn’t inflamed and can properly digest and assimilate food, it can produce more serotonin.

In Germany, people would traditionally eat a spoonful of sauerkraut in the evening. It was believed to create a cooling effect in the body that helped people rest and sleep better.

Fermented foods can help with sleep, regulate blood sugar, and support overall health. Many older people in German and Eastern European traditions will say they’ve always known this. They used fermented foods to regulate blood sugar and support digestion.

It’s amazing that people have practiced these traditions for so long, and now science is catching up.

What kind of equipment does someone need to start fermenting? Is it complicated, or can a home cook participate?

It’s super simple. All you really need is some produce, salt, a couple of mason jars, and cloth.

That’s what I’ll be teaching—how simple and accessible it is. The main skill develops over time: cultivating a relationship with your ferments. Watching them, tasting them, even listening to them bubble. It’s about trusting your senses and learning how the ferments behave.

Can you talk about the flavor subtleties that happen when bacteria start breaking food down?

Ferments develop incredible flavor, and it depends on the bacteria involved. Sauerkraut and fermented vegetables tend to be more sour because of the bacterial activity.

Different bacteria appear at different stages of fermentation. If you taste sauerkraut three days in, it still tastes mostly like salty cabbage. Around eight days you might smell sulfur releasing from the cabbage and taste a little of it as well. You’ll also notice the carbonic acid developing.

Around two weeks, more sour flavors come through, and by three weeks it becomes quite acidic.

Each stage of bacteria helps break down sugars and starches, reproduce, and create the conditions for the next stage of bacteria to develop.

Before refrigeration, how did fermentation allowed people to preserve food safely?

Fermentation protects the food. Beneficial bacteria create an environment that prevents harmful bacteria and yeasts from taking over. That’s what makes fermented foods shelf-stable.They are also very high in vitamin C.

That’s also why sailors historically used fermented foods to prevent diseases like scurvy. Captain Cook, for example, carried sauerkraut on long voyages.

Where can people get Culturalive sauerkraut?

I’m currently in about 15 stores, including Country Grocer, South End Sausage, the Mercantile, and Natureworks. The community here is really supportive of local producers.

I’m excited to explore and experiment together with people during this course. I’m really happy to welcome anyone who’s interested.