What is eating locally?  It is eating food that is grown in your region. This could mean growing your own produce, joining a CSA, shopping at a producer-only farmer’s market or checking the source of your produce at the grocery store.

Why eat locally? 1. Food tastes better. Food is fresher and is harvested closer to the time you eat it and is not ripening on a truck but rather on the vine.

2. Food is healthier. For the reasons stated above, food harvested at the peak time will be more nutrient dense. Avoids the use of fruit ripening agents and coloring agents used to mask lack of vitality in the plant.  Also, animals raised on small farms generally have more humane living conditions.

3. You can talk to the person who grew your food and support your local farmer. Make sure your farmer’s market is a producer-only farmer’s market so you are buying directly from the farmer.

4. Food is generally less toxic. Generally less pesticides are used at small local farms. Most local farmers can’t afford to be certified organic through the USDA, as it costs about 50,000 just to submit an application. But small farmers may use techniques to reduce the need for pesticides such as integrated pest management.

5. Save money. Buying direct from the farmer may be cheaper than going through a middle man.

6. You can support local business and local economy.

7. You can help the environment. Reduces carbon emissions.  Have you wondered how much it costs to ship a garlic bulb from China?

8. Eat with the seasons. Eating food in season saves money.  Also the plants that grow locally are exposed to the same environmental stressors as you are, they secrete secondary plant metabolites in response to those stressors.  Those secondary plant metabolites are the medicinal components of the food we eat.

9.  Try new foods and new recipes!  The farmer’s market or a CSA is a great opportunity to try weird new foods.  What do you do with Kohlrabi anyways!? Live on the wild side and eat purple carrots and potatoes.

10.  Support plant diversity instead of mono cropping.  Monocropping disturbs ecosystems.  Americans are getting sick eating diets that consist of soy, citrus, peanuts, wheat, corn and dairy.  Our ancestors ate diets rich in a diversity of plants.

Beans are rich in antioxidants, fiber and protein.  They are rich in plant estrogen-like compounds.  Useful for a variety of conditions, including heart disease, menopause, a variety of female disorders, osteoporosis, constipation, to name a few.

These are tips for sneaking beans into your diet or the diet of a picky eater.

1.  Mash white beans or northern beans into tuna salad.  1/4 cup for every can of tuna.  I did this the other night.  No one could guess the secret ingredient in the tuna salad.  Get chunk light, skipjack or tongol tuna for lower mercury content. Download the National Resources Defense Council to see lowest mercury fish.

2.  Sneak into chocolate pudding.  Try this tofu chocolate pudding recipe.  You will never know it is made with tofu.

3.  Add beans to smoothies.  The extra protein helps balance blood sugar and provide a more nutrient dense snack or breakfast.  (Thanks to my friend and chef, Bonnie Gray for teaching me this trick).  Basic smoothie recipe – 1 cup almond or other unsweetened milk, 1/3 cup frozen organic berries, 1/2 banana, 1/4 cup white, pinto or fava beans.  Add more liquid as needed.

5.  Make burgers out of them!  This is a favorite recipe from Myra Kornfeld, chef extraordinaire!

Black Bean Burgers a modified recipe, original recipe by Myra Kornfeld

Serves 4

3/4 cup sunflower seeds, roasted unsalted

1 ¾ cup cooked black beans (1 can)

2 tablespoons coconut oil plus more for sautéing the burgers

1 cup diced onion

Salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon chile powder

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup bean cooking liquid or water

Warm the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and ½ teaspoon salt and sauté 7 to 10 minutes until softened.

• Warm the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and ½ teaspoon salt and sauté 7 to 10 minutes until softened.
• Add the garlic, cumin, chile powder, and oregano; and sauté another minute. Add 1/3 of the beans with 1/3 cup water (or bean cooking liquid if you have cooked them fresh), mashing the beans with a potato masher or fork. When the liquid is absorbed, continue with another third of both the beans and 1/3 cup water. Continue mashing until most of the beans are broken up and the mixture is chunky. Do this 1 last time with the last 1/3 of the beans and the last 1/3 cup of the water. Cook, stirring constantly at this point until the liquid is absorbed and the beans are very thick but not completely dry.
• Transfer the beans to a medium bowl to cool until handleable, about 15 minutes. Stir in the sunflower seeds. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Spread a layer of pumpkin seed powder on a small plate. Form the bean mix into 12 small patties.
• Dredge each patty in the sunflower seed powder.
• Sauté the burgers; Warm a tablespoon oil in a medium non-stick skillet. Add the patties and sauté in batches until golden, about 2 minutes on each side. Add more oil if necessary, just enough to have a thin film. Serve hot.

 

Are you dancing around the table, trying to get your kids to eat broccoli.  Join the club.  Here are some tips from one parent to another.

1. Model healthy eating habits.  Humans have mirror neurons that encourage us to imitate health behaviors we see in others.

2.  Visit farms, pick berries, grow a garden.  There is nothing like tasting a tomato from the garden.

3.  Decide what, where and when.  Let the kids decide whether or how much.  Author Ellyn Satter of “Your Child’s Weight: Helping Without Harming” suggests that snacking and lack of structure is one major cause of obesity in our children.  Timing meals allows children to become familiar with hunger and satiety signals rather than snacking all day.

4.  Let them help in the kitchen.  Have some messy fun making 2 ingredient banana cookies. Healthy food can be fun to make and eat!

5.  Exposure.  Keep serving vegetables.

6.  Avoid sodas and fruit juice.  It is better for children to eat their calories than drink them.  High glycemic drinks shift metabolism and promote obesity.

7.  Love your body.  Demonstrate healthy body image for your kids.  Show them you care about your body and your health.

8.  Make tasty food.  A little fat and spice goes a long way.  Baked sweet potato fries.  Mashed cauliflower.

9.  Have fun with your food.  Turn broccoli into trees, a clown face with your salad, see more ideas here Making Food Fun.