Have you seen the popular show, Food Revolution with Chef Jamie Oliver?  

In a nutshell he is trying to “makeover” Huntington, WV since they are always ranked as one of the worst cities in terms of obesity and several other associated diseases. 

Food Revolution.  That’s powerful.  Most people need one!

While he’s not the first to coin this term, he’s definitely bringing it more to light.  

Even though we’re well aware of how poor nutrition knowledge is with most kids and adults, it was still amazing to watch as kids couldn’t identify very basic fruits and veggies, like tomatoes!  

And then I thought about how we are and how we’re trying to raise Ella.  

She’s already been exposed to foods that many adults haven’t tried – plain asparagus (not her favorite), quinoa with squash and ground cumin (LOVES THIS), and her ultimate favorite mixture of sweet potato, asparagus, and leeks all cooked and blended (asparagus are acceptable when mixed, I guess).  In fact, here’s a picture of her waiting for a spoonful of this delicious treat.

Now, this isn’t to say in 5 years she’s going to demand Twinkies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (I cringe as I write that). But hopefully with exposure to so many different things she continues to enjoy them and makes smarter food choices throughout her life.

What’s the point?  Well, the Farmer’s Markets officially open in early April here in Kentucky.  And it’s a Saturday morning tradition for the 3 of us to walk there to see what “goodies” they have …

…but in addition, we also joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  We’re lucky to have a Farmer’s Market just a few minutes away from our house.  But CSA’s give you the opportunity to benefit from the same great foods even if there isn’t a market as close to you.

I’ll give you the website to find one in your area.  A CSA basically means you buy share of a local farmers crop.  In Louisville we pay about $600 or so for produce (that is for weekly delivery from May – November) which comes out to around $15-20/week.  Then you can usually add on milk, poultry, eggs, meat, etc.

You definitely want to check them out and see if there are any near you.

The farm we’re likely going with this year is 100% organic (not all are), assures you that nothing is picked earlier than the morning you pick up your delivery, and their drop off location is 10 minutes away.  

We’re supporting the local farmer, getting more nutrients because of the freshness, and it will taste much better than most produce in the grocery store.  Now if those aren't enough reasons, I can't convince you to give it a try!

You can find one in your area by visiting http://www.LocalHarvest.org and typing in your zip code.

Let us know if you’ve ever participated in one and give us your feedback.

My prediction is that CSA's are going to continue to grow by leaps and bounds!

"Organic foods are a waste of money" caused a bit of a stir — we were called "hypocrites" for not sticking to our guns recommending "healthy foods."

So I started thinking that I needed to clarify some points — I summarized a recent study that was published, basically showing there was no difference between organic and conventional foods.

But the question resurfaced — "I don’t care what the research says, what do YOU personally do?"

At the Mohr House, we belong to a CSA (community supported agriculture) and supplement with weekly trips to the Farmer’s Market. 

As I said, local is best in our opinion — and 99% of the time, these farmers are also organic, even though they may not be "certified" as such because of the associated costs.  You should ask the farmers how they grow their produce.

A CSA is simply where you buy a share of a farm — we paid $500 and get weekly, local crops, from May – December.  That’s well worth the price. Find one in YOUR area by visiting Local Harvest.org.  These are the greatest way to buy the best vegetables and fruit from YOUR area.  Our particular CSA guarantees nothing they carry will come from more than 50 miles away … and, as I said, local means tastier and much higher in nutrients.  If it’s organic too, it’s a great bonus.

Our goal is to buy everything as "close to the ground" as possible.  We also buy all of our meats from the farmer’s market — we’re fortunate to have one near us with farmers who have free range chicken & eggs (with pictures on the farm of their "happy, bug eating chickens" as they call them), 100% grass fed and finished red meat and pork.  We want to know where our food comes from … we know the farmers and they know us.

You know your hair dresser by name and you likely know your mechanic and your tailor.  Doesn’t it also make sense to know the person growing the food you’re eating and feeding to your family? 

We also grow some of our own veggies — we’re not making Martha Stewart nervous, but we have loads of tomatoes, some bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash, along with a boatload of fresh herbs.  What a blast!  There’s also data that shows families who grow their own vegetables have kids who eat more of them. 

So in a nutshell — 99% of our produce and all our meats are organically produced and are from local farms. 

And we do that by "following" these three "rules."

1. Grow them ourselves.

2. Buy them from a Farmer’s Market (or our CSA).
   
3. Join a CSA ( $500 over 6 months — you can’t beat the price for the quality!)
   

Speaking of knowing where our foods come from, has anyone seen the movie Food, Inc?  Anxious to learn a bit more about the food industry … I have a feeling it’s going to reinforce just how important "local" is!!!  Check out the trailer — Foodincmovie.com