Get Fresh!

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It's fresh produce season, and time to enjoy all the great veggies and fruits available from your local farms. A power pantry lifestyle has a whole-foods, plant-based diet at its core, and filling your pantry and fridge with fresh produce is the right step in that direction.

A friend emailed me about a CSA his cousin operates. CSA stands for 'community supported agriculture', and it is a great and growing model of connecting citizen consumers with local farmers and produce growers. I did a post on farmer's markets and CSA's last year to shine some light on this tremendous resource for fresh foods. If you haven't engaged in stopping at a roadside stand, farmer's market or CSA for fresh produce, this is the time to do it.

How is the spread of fresh-to-cooked foods at your dining room table? Many integrative / holistic nutritionists agree that over half of our diet should be raw fruits and veggies. That is the best resource for phytonutrients and valuable antioxidants our bodies need to fight sickness and build healthy bones and tissues. Fresh foods are the path to those nutrients, and a farmer's market or CSA will help you along that path.

So revel in the pending summer weather and the rainbow of fruits and veggies available from local farms. We're just at the beginning of growing and harvesting season - get out there and enjoy it!

By the Way

Yesterday was the 'full strawberry moon', identified as such by early Algonquin Indian tribes because June features abundant strawberries. The strawberry season is really short, though, with only about 3 weeks of opportunity between the last week of May and the first two weeks of June. Don't miss it!

You can check out the Pick Your Own website to find your state harvest calendar and note when crops will be starting to ripen, and when the peak is for harvest.