FOOD

I am so bummed to have just stumbled upon this today, but I thought I would share anyway. The registration deadline is over but it’s never to late to start something like this. I wish we had more local options to keep people eating fresh produce and locally grown and raised goods year round. This is my real dream. This challenge just may push us in that direction.

The deadline for registration for One Local Summer has now closed.  2008 is going to be an exciting year for the challenge - we have 136 participants!  30 states in the U.S. are represented, plus there are a few Canadians participating this year as well as several people from France and the UK.  Outstanding!

The rules and other important information (please read: some of it is different from last year!):

1. The challenge will begin on Sunday, June 1 and run until Sunday, August 31.  Your challenge: prepare one meal each week using only locally grown ingredients - the exceptions are oil, salt and pepper, and spices.  Please note: the first update/recap of meals will appear on this site on Tuesday, June 10.
2. Each region has one or two regional coordinators.  Participants should have received an email with the name of their regional coordinator.
3. On SUNDAY of every week during the challenge, please email your regional coordinator the URL of any OLS posts on your blog or Flickr account.  Or, if you have neither, email your regional coordinator your update on Sunday. Updates will appear on the Farm to Philly blog every TUESDAY.  If you do not get your update emailed by Sunday, you can post your update in the comments section for your region’s update.
4. If you would like a One Local Summer button for your blog, there are three available here.
5. When you come to the Farm to Philly site, there’s an easy way to find all One Local Summer entries - look in the far left column under ‘Categories’ and click the link that says ‘One Local Summer’.

We at Farm to Philly are very excited to be hosting One Local Summer this year!  And I’m grateful to all the regional coordinators and those that volunteered to be back ups to the regional coordinators - thank you so much!

I hereby vow to include more local eating option information here and also seek out ways of getting the local goods into our deliveries!

Thinking green leads to acting green and in my opinion that is time well spent. I spend a lot of time thinking green. Over the last couple of years that thinking has really translated into acting. I’ve convinced my husband to stop putting harsh chemical fertilizers on the lawn. I have convinced my husband to not freak out when the grocery bill shows more organics than non-organics. And even when I’m not being green I try to think about why I’m not and planning differently so that the next time I make a similar choice I can make it a greener choice.

It’s funny all the things we do that can be done green if we think about it long enough. I’ve never thought much about my childrens’ birthday parties as “green” events, aside from recycling and precycling, but I was reading Recycle Your Day today and a contest going on over there got me thinking differently about the next birthday party coming up.

Thinking green is the first step to becoming green but it’s really nice when someone else thinks of it for you!

With Earth Day 2008 less than a week away, there’s no better time than the present to decide on ways to celebrate and/or take part. Here are a few suggestions to make Earth Day 2008 a very special day!

• Plant a Tree - You can physically plant a tree in your yard or neighborhood, or visit the Arbor Day Foundation and donate your money for them to plant a tree on your behalf!

• Start Recycling in Your Home or Office - Call your local recycling service to find out how to get your office or home set up for recycling collection.

• Start a Garden - You don’t need a big place to start a garden. A small corner of the yard with lots of sun and access to water or if a yard isn’t readily available, try container gardening. Obviously we are proponents of gardening the organic way. It’s a little early to start planting in some places (here in Denver included) but you can get your garden spot tilled and ready or your pots and soil selected and then ready to plant around May 15 for Denver.

• Make Some Art with Your Kids - A great Denver-based blogger I know came up with this fabulous idea of Kids Art Auction for Earth Day 2008. Detailed instructions available thru the link and proceeds benefit We Can Solve It.

• Switch from Plastic to Permanent - Start a collection of reusable bags. Every grocery store in Denver is selling them for as low as $0.99 per bag and giving up to $0.10 refund per bag per trip to the store. Have some serious fun with it and order personalized bags from Cafe Press or the cute bags pictured here from b. happybags.

• Organize a Neighborhood Clean-Up Party - Get to know your neighbors by knocking on their doors and introducing yourself. Tell them you’re putting together an Earth Day Neighborhood Coalition to clean up the alley or pick up trash on the block or in the local park.

Those are just a few of my ideas. I’m sure you have other ideas. My son’s school does a big plant sale every spring and and for Earth Day we are hosting an evening with a Master Gardener and pre-sale on plants for the yard, so that’s where I’ll be. Would you like to join me?

Spring is definitely in the air, and while there may be a bit of snow on the ground this morning, it’s not going to deter me from my excitement about the wonderful fruits and berries that are starting to be available to us. This last week, I’ve been able to offer strawberries in our delivery baskets and they’ve really gone and charmed the socks of me. Organic blueberries and raspberries are just around the corner and I can’t wait.

In celebration of this exciting time of year, here’s a bit of information about the benefits of eating strawberries.

Strawberries

The World’s Healthiest Foods is a web site I found that is packed with wonderful information. Here is what they have to say about strawberries.

The fragrantly sweet juiciness and deep red color of strawberries can brighten up both the taste and aesthetics of any meal; it is no wonder they are the most popular berry fruit in the world. Although strawberries have become increasingly available year-round, they are at the peak of their season from April through July when they are the most delicious and most abundant.

While there are more than 600 varieties of strawberries that differ in flavor, size and texture, one can usually identify a strawberry by its red flesh that has yellow seeds piercing its surface, and the small, regal, green leafy cap and stem that adorn its crown. In addition to strawberries that are cultivated, there are also varieties that grow wild. These are much smaller in size, but feature a more intense flavor.

Health Benefits

Strawberries not only look like a fruity heart-shaped valentine, they are filled with unusual phytonutrients that love to promote your health.

Potent Antioxidant Protection from Phenols

Strawberries, like other berries, are famous in the phytonutrient world as a rich surce of phenols. In the strawberry, these phenols are led by the anthocyanins (especially anthocyanin 2) and by the ellagitannins. The anthocyanins in strawberry not only provide its flush red color, they also serve as potent antioxidants that have repeatedly been shown to help protect cell structures in the body and to prevent oxygen damage in all of the body’s organ systems. Strawberries’ unique phenol content makes them a heart-protective fruit, an anti-cancer fruit, and an anti-inflammatory fruit, all rolled into one. The anti-inflammatory properties of strawberry include the ability of phenols in this fruit to lessen activity of the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase, or COX. Non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen block pain by blocking this enzyme, whose overactivity has been shown to contribute to unwanted inflammation, such as that which is involved in rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Unlike drugs that are COX-inhibitors, however, strawberries do not cause intestinal bleeding.

Strawberry Phytonutrients that Promote Optimal Health

The ellagitannin content of strawberries has actually been associated with decreased rates of cancer death. In one study, strawberries topped a list of eight foods most linked to lower rates of cancer deaths among a group of over 1,000 elderly people. Those eating the most strawberries were three times less likely to develop cancer compared to those eating few or no strawberries.

A study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry analyzed eight strawberry cultivars for their content of protective plant compounds (phenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins) and their antioxidant capacities. Although the various cultivars differed significantly in the amounts of the various beneficial compounds each contained, all cultivars (Earliglow, Annapolis, Evangeline, Allstar, Sable, Sparkle, Jewel, and Mesabi) were able to significantly inhibit the proliferation of human liver cancer cells. nterestingly, no relationship was found between a cultivar’s antioxidant content and its ability to inhibit cancer cell proliferation, which suggests that this beneficial effect of strawberries is caused by other actions of their many beneficial compounds.

 

Protection against Macular Degeneration

Your mother may have told you carrots would keep your eyes bright as a child, but as an adult, it looks like fruit is even more important for keeping your sight. Data reported in a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

In this study, which involved over 110,000 women and men, researchers evaluated the effect of study participants’ consumption of fruits; vegetables; the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E; and carotenoids on the development of early ARMD or neovascular ARMD, a more severe form of the illness associated with vision loss. While, surprisingly, intakes of vegetables, antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids were not strongly related to incidence of either form of ARMD, fruit intake was definitely protective against the severe form of this vision-destroying disease. Three servings of fruit may sound like a lot to eat each day, but strawberries can help you reach this goal. Top your morning cereal, lunch time yogurt or cottage cheese with fresh strawberries. Dress up any green salad with sliced strawberries, slivered almonds and a splash of balsamic vinegar. For an easy, elegant dessert, blend fresh or frozen strawberries with a spoonful of honey and some soy or cow’s milk or yogurt. Freeze for 20 minutes, then spoon into serving cups and decorate with a sprig of mint.

 

Protection against Rheumatoid Arthritis

While one study suggests that high doses of supplemental vitamin C makes osteoarthritis, a type of degenerative arthritis that occurs with aging, worse in laboratory animals, another indicates that vitamin C-rich foods, such as strawberries, provide humans with protection against inflammatory polyarthritis, a form of rheumatoid arthritis involving two or more joints. The findings, presented in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases were drawn from a study of more than 20,000 subjects and focused on who developed inflammatory polyarthritis and similar subjects who remained arthritis-free during the follow-up period. Subjects who consumed the lowest amounts of vitamin C-rich foods were more than three times more likely to develop arthritis than those who consumed the highest amounts.

In terms of traditional nutrients, strawberries emerged from our food ranking system as an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese. They also qualified as a very good source of dietary fiber and iodine as well as a good source of potassium, folate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B6, vitamin K, magnesium, and copper.

For more information about strawberries a fun web site to read is Strawberries.com.

Since the tulips aren’t blooming quite yet (at least not in my yard), this is a fun way to catch the spirit of spring!

Click on the link below. When the page comes up, click anywhere and see what happens!

Also try holding the mouse down and dragging!

www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

This Saturday March 29th, a wonderful thing is going to happen. It’s called Earth Hour. As a company we are committed to participating and to spreading the word. Follow the link to pledge to participate and learn more. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper is urging the residents of Denver to all take part in this wonderful event. Here is a copy of his letter!

denver-ltr.pdf

Hope you can join us!!!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending an event hosted by the Colorado Human Resources Association. The topic was health and wellness in the workplace and the speaker was Brad Cooper from US Corporate Wellness. Brad’s talk was full of useful information and punctuated by helpful tidbits here and there.

One of those tidbits, I have already put into action in my own business. He asked the people in the room, when was the last time they had gone on a walking meeting? I have meetings all the time. They usually involve lattes or lunch, but that seems so counter-productive to my business. I love the idea of a walking meeting so much that the next person I talked to that wanted to get together I suggested a walking meeting.

We met today at the park. We walked and talked for about 45 minutes and had a great time. I told her how I had heard of the idea and she was so excited about it herself. I left our walking meeting to deliver a basket of fruit. I delivered the fruit in my walking clothes and talked to my client about the walking meeting. She was so thrilled about the idea, she’s going to start doing her one on one meetings with her staff while on a walk.

Think about it. The next time you need to brain storm, or conduct an interview, make sure to tell everyone to wear or bring comfortable shoes. Then see what happens out on your walk.

This question has been on my mind a lot lately. Every week, I am filling baskets with apples, bananas and some sort of citrus. I try to switch it up with different varieties of apples so that my customers can enjoy variety in their deliveries. When shopping for fruit many circumstances go into deciding what fruits go into this week’s baskets.

First is freshness. Whatever is freshest and most vibrant gets first consideration.

Second is variety. If there is an option that is just as fresh but different from last week, that is weighed in. It seems right now Cameo, Gala, Braeburn and Pink Lady apples are all vieing

Third is uniqueness. If I find something that is unique that would allow me to introduce a new fruit to someone I’m all for it. Lately kiwis and mangoes  have been very good so I’ve put them in the baskets. But these specialty fruits do require extra prep time so I limit their basket time.

Fourth is customer requests. I received an email this week from an office that is very specific about what they want in their basket and I’m all for that! Makes my shopping all the easier!

I was asking my distributor when he thought we may see organic grapes. I’ve been waiting and waiting for grapes to appear on my list of available products. He told me it should be in two to three weeks. Hooray! I want to keep my customers excited about the fruit so I can’t wait for the grapes.

But all this got me to thinking about the seasonality of fruit.  And this seems like something I should know. So I looked it up and I found this wonderful web site with this great list! Due to many growers living in year round growing conditions, many of these things will be available at different times throughout the year, but it’s nice to know when to expect them to be at their best.

Spring

Apricots
Mango
Pineapple
Strawberries

Summer

Blackberries
Blueberries
Nectarines
Peaches
Plums
Raspberries
Watermelon

Fall

Apples
Figs
Grapes
Pears
Pomegranate

Winter

Grapefruit
Lemons
Oranges
Tangerines

With the beautiful mangos in the delivery this week, the topic of mango salsa came up! Some of our clients hadn’t ever heard of this so I scanned the world wide web and found a few variations to share with you. Most recipes recommend serving mango salsa with salmon or halibut, but I enjoy it right on the end of a corn chip! Whatever way works for you is fine by me. Hope you enjoy!

Mango Salsa ~ From Simply Recipes

Fresh mango salsa is easy to make and perfect with halibut or salmon or as the salsa in fish tacos.

 

1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced (about 1 1/2 cup) (See: How to Cut a Mango)
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 Jalapeño chile, minced (include ribs and seeds for a hotter taste if desired)
1 small cucumber, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Also good with diced red bell pepper and jicama.

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the salsa ends up being a little too hot or acidic for your taste, you can temper it by adding some diced avocado.

Recipe adapted from Everyday Food magazine.

Lesley’s Mango Salsa ~ From Cooks.com

2 ripe mangoes
2 apples (Braeburn or Cameo are a good choice)
1 small sweet onion
2 limes
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
salt

Dice mangoes, apples and onions into small pieces. Chop cilantro. Combine.Squeeze juice of limes over salsa. Salt to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.

Patrick’s Mango Salsa ~ From Cooks.com

12 roma tomatoes, seeded, diced
1 red onion, diced
5 jalapenos, diced(add 1/4 habenero pepper for extreme heat)
2 mangos, diced
1 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp tobasco or other pepper sauce
Mix all of the ingredients together. Refridgerate for 1 hour and then serve. Keep in mind that the salt will draw out the juices from the ingredients and so the mixture may have to be drained from time to time. Save the juice for Bloody Mary’s or Caesar.

Traditional Mango Salsa ~ From Mahanandi

1 ripe mango - peeled and finely cubed
1 fresh corn - grilled and the kernels sliced
1 medium red onion or shallot - finely chopped (and washed in water)
2 to 4 green chillies - minced
Few sprigs of cilantro - finely chopped
1 lime - juice squeezed and
¼ teaspoon of salt or to taste

Toss them together and serve with tortilla (corn flour) chips.