Are you a ferment fanatic?

Or are you still teetering on the brink of tasting a ferment for the first time? Join us Oct 11, 2025 6 pm London, 1 pm NYC, 11 am Denver, 10 am Oregon

World Ferment Day (February 1 2026) aims to turn ferment theory into practice by facilitating ferment events that result in more people actually trying more ferments. Join Kirsten Shockey, Mara King and Jo Webster to find out why you need World Ferment Day in your life and how you can get involved.

Why World Ferment Day matters to YOU

Gut health is a cornerstone of all-round health and well-being. The scientific spotlight on gut microbiota has revealed their vital role in digestion, immunity, mental health, and beyond. But here’s the thing: while intellectual awareness is growing, too many people stop at the headlines and never take the next, vital step of incorporating these foods and drinks into daily life.

Join Kirsten Shockey as she talks with Jo Webster and Mara King about 1 February - World Ferment Day - and why it matters. If you are a fermenter, producer, scientist, chef, restaurant owner or are otherwise involved in fermenting, find out how, through World Ferment Day,  you can play a part in transforming knowledge into action, empowering others to improve food enjoyment and health by starting to incorporate fermented foods into their lives. If you are teetering on the brink of trying a ferment, listen in to find out more about how World Ferment Day might inspire you to take that important next step.

Have you got the guts to help others make a change or to make a change, yourself? Over time, consuming these foods on a regular basis may give you the best guts you’ve ever had!

Who we are

Jo Webster, Mara King, and Kirsten Shockey

Mara, Kirsten and Jo have collaborated over the years in many ways to help spread the microbial magic of fermentation. 

Jo is an AFN registered associate nutritionist, a medical herbalist with a special interest in gut health and a fermentologist. She is currently working on her PhD, focusing on a particular form of fermented food. She enjoys combining her love of fermenting and herbs through her work with oxymels, a traditional form of herbal medicine that has somewhat fallen out of favour. Jo’s previous career was in law.Jo is a proponent of being the change we want to see in the world. She works with people one to one as well as running events relating to nutrition, herbs and microbes and she teaches nutrition and elements of herbalism for Betonica School of Herbal Medicine and is a director of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. Jo is mother to 4 amazing children. She loves being in the woods, learning, asking questions and laughing. In 2018, she jointly set the first ever Guinness World Record for making the largest dish of bacterially fermented sauerkraut.

You can find Jo on socials as

https://www.instagram.com/jo.webster.health/

https://jowebster.substack.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Jo.Webster.Health

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-webster-health/

Originally from Hong Kong, where she developed a love for food culture, Mara has over 20 years of experience building culture in Colorado’s beloved restaurants and through founding her own sauerkraut, kimchi & pickle company. She is an acclaimed fermentation educator and practitioner, who brings her knowledge to the forefront as the Director of Fermentation and Sustainability at Id Est, a restaurant group with six restaurants and a grain mill. Id Est is focused on regenerative agriculture, zero waste menu design and rethinking restaurant impact. 

Kirsten is the author of award-winning Homebrewed Vinegar, coauthor, with Christopher Shockey, of award-winning The Big Book of Cidermaking; award-winning Miso, Tempeh, Natto & Other Tasty Ferments; Fiery Ferments; and best-selling Fermented Vegetables, now available in the 10th anniversary edition. She can be found writing about life and fermentation at fermentingchange.substack from her home in the mountains of southern Oregon She is a co-founder of The Fermentation School a women-owned and women-led benefits corporation supporting the voices of independent educators to empower learning and build culture.

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