This is crazy.

I got an email late last week.

It was about an embargoed story that was going to be released regarding fruit and vegetable intake and the results of a brand new study that was coming out.

They sent me the report. 

And it doesn’t matter how often you see this stuff about the health of our nation being so poor.  How our intake of various foods is too low.  Or added sugar is too high.

Seeing certain things still continues to amaze me.

One of those things.

92% of children don’t eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies each day.

And get this — this is the amazing part — the health care costs from treating diet related diseases because of LOW fruit and vegetable intake is $56.2 BILLION/year. 

That’s billion … with a B.

Health care reform might be the hot topic these days, but let’s maybe look at fruit and vegetable "reform."  Something as simple as eating MORE fruits and veggies each and every day can slash health care costs by drastic amounts.

Amazing.

So how do you get started? 

Make them available #1.  Have them in your house.  If you don’t buy them, of course no one will choose them … they’re not there. 

Buy frozen fruit and add it to smoothies.  Or throw a handful or two of veggies into an omelet.  Make a "pact" with yourself that if you snack, it must include a fruit and/or vegetable.  Don’t eat any meals without fruits or vegetables included as part of them.  

This is madness, though.  It doesn’t take a lot of make a massive improvement in health.  We also know those who eat more fruit/veggies weigh less.  Certainly that fact alone is tied to the health care costs.

Mohr Results Bottom Line:  Eat more fruit.  Eat even more veggies.  The more color the better.  Preventing … or reducing the risk … of disease is easy … eating more veggies and fruit is a great first, simple step.

"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