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July 29, 2004
Prairie Fare: Garden-fresh Produce Just Around the Corner
The other day I was having my elementary-age children help me with yard work. These ever-energetic children, who generally run circles around me, were quickly “exhausted” from weeding flower beds and trimming grass around trees. They dramatically dragged their bodies from area to area, pausing to get my attention and aiming for my sympathy. Unfortunately for them, the ploy didn’t work. As they say, the apples don’t fall far from the tree. When I was their age, weeding wasn’t my favorite activity either. We Gardens were known for our many large vegetable and flower gardens, and I wasn’t overly thrilled by it at the time. Weeding was a regular event, and as much as I tried, my excuses to avoid my chores weren’t effective. When harvest time came, however, it was never difficult to get me to eat all sorts of produce from the garden. From beets to rutabagas, I ate it all. I helped grow these vegetables, toiling through clouds of mosquitoes and sizzling hot sun. I was certainly going to eat the stuff. Not only that, I liked it. I wasn’t unusual in liking the food I helped grow. Research studies have shown that children who help grow and prepare fruits and vegetables are more likely to eat them. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is one of the best things you can do for your health. Dietitians have long recommended eating at least five total servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Eating plenty of produce can cut the risk for cancer, heart disease, macular degeneration (a leading cause of blindness) and other diseases. Now, we’ve upped the ante. Men should aim for nine servings a day, seven servings for women and at least five servings for children. A serving is one medium piece of fruit, one-half cup fruits or vegetables, three-fourths cup 100 percent juice, one cup leafy greens or one-fourth cup dried fruit. How are you doing? People have many reasons for not meeting the daily goal, from expense to availability. Meeting the fruit and vegetable recommendation isn’t as expensive as you might think. To save money, buy in season when fruits and vegetables are at peak quality and often, best value. USDA researchers studied prices of 69 forms of fruit and 85 forms of vegetables. Consumers can eat three servings of fruits and four servings of vegetables for about 64 cents. That leaves about 88 percent of the average food dollar of moderate-income people available for purchasing grain foods, meats/proteins and dairy foods. Lower income families still have 84 percent of their food dollar available. Somewhat surprisingly, 63 percent of fruits and 57 percent of vegetables were cheapest as fresh produce. If you don’t want to grow your own produce, but you savor the flavor of garden-fresh produce, shop farmer’s markets. Across the U.S., the number of farmer’s markets grew from 1,755 in 1994 to 3,137 in 2002. Here’s a simple and healthful side dish featuring some of summer’s favorites, perfect with grilled meat or poultry, garlic toast, yogurt-fruit parfaits and a glass of cool lemonade.
### Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
Market Advisor: |
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North Dakota State University |
