Whole Health Nutrition News

June, 2006

In this issue:

• Karen's class schedule for June and July
• Supporting Locally Grown Food
• The Omnivore's Dilemma (Book Review)
• What's in Season
• Recipe of the Month

Karen's Class Schedule: June and July

15 Minute Meals - Thursday, June 29th, 7-9PM, Spartan Gym Kitchen, Shoreline. Registration: 206-418-3383
Are you too busy to cook, but want to enjoy healthy meals that don’t come from a fast food restaurant or out of a box? This fun class will show you how to prepare healthy meals with a gourmet taste in under 20 minutes. Several delicious recipes will be demonstrated. We will also discuss ways to make healthy eating convenient, how to stock your pantry, as well as offer timesaving cooking and shopping tips.

Main Dish Salads - Thursday, July 13th, 7-9PM, Spartan Gym Kitchen, Shoreline. Registration: 206-418-3383

Light, healthy main-dish salads are perfect for summer, and this cooking class makes them easy and quick to prepare. Karen will share her passion for salads that are both satisfying and nutritionally complete as a meal unto themselves.

15 Minute Meals - Saturday July 15th, Noon - 2PM, Gould Hall, UW Campus. Registration: 206-68-LEARN or http://www.peopleware.net/index.cfm?eventDisp=W113

Sensational Salads and Sides– Thur. July 20th, 6:30-8:30, Everett Senior Center, Pacific and Lombard. Registration: 425-257-8300 or http://signmeup.everettwa.org

We’ll take advantage of the farmers’ market bounty and create simple yet elegant summer salads and organic vegetable side dishes that taste so gourmet no one will guess how easy (and healthy) they are! You will sample Summer Vegetable Quesadillas with Basil Pesto, Organic Vegetable Pasta Salad and Smoked Salmon with Chardonnay Dijon Vinaigrette, Green Beans with Gorgonzola, Balsamic and Fresh Herb Vinaigrette, and Asian Quinoa Salad with Citrus-Miso Dressing.

Reasons to Buy Local Food

Did you know that food travels on average 1,300 miles from farm to table? Fruits and vegetables shipped from distant states and countries can spend as many as seven to fourteen days in transit before they arrive at the supermarket.

The freshest, most flavorful food is in your own neighborhood at your local farmers market. When you buy local food, you vote with your food dollar. This helps to ensure that family farms in your community continue to thrive. Here are some reasons to support your local farmers market:

• You'll get exceptional taste and freshness. Local food is usually sold within 24 hours of being harvested - it tastes better than food shipped long distances from other states or countries.
• You'll strengthen your local economy. Buying local food keeps your dollars circulating in your community.
• You'll support endangered family farms. There's never been a more critical time to support your farming neighbors. With each local food purchase, you ensure that more of your money spent on food goes to the farmers.
• You'll safeguard your families health. Knowing where your food comes from and how it is grown or raised enables you to choose safe food from farmers who avoid or reduce their use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified seed in their operations. Buy food from local farmers you trust.
• You'll protect the environment. Local food doesn't have to travel far. This reduces fuel expense, carbon dioxide emissions and packing materials.

Here are some websites to locate farmers markets in your region: http://www.pugetsoundfresh.org/farmers_markets.htm

http://www.wafarmersmarkets.com

Book Review: The Omnivore's Dilemma

The Omnivore’s Dilemma is one of those rare books that makes you think seriously about topics not often considered: How has our food system, in just a few decades, developed into today's industrial, factory-fed, subsidized corn-based model? What are the costs and consequences of this model? Why is this system usually portrayed as the only viable means to feed ourselves? Who's in control? Is organic any better?

The book is organized into four sections, each of which relates to a different meal. (The meals are from McDonald's, a Whole Foods Market "organic" meal, a truly organic meal from a farm, and a hunter-gatherer repast.) Pollan starts with the earliest beginnings of what made the meal possible, and then researches forward until the food hits the plate. There are several eye-opening facts presented in 'The Omnivore's Dilemma'...things that most of us never really think about, such as: the amount of energy expended to bring a meal to your table (or car), or that 'if we are what we eat, we're basically a corn chip with arms and legs.'

This book is not about telling you what you should and should not eat. It is about allowing yourself to develop your own answers to questions that many don't want to think about. This is one of the best books I've read this year.

What's in Season

We all know strawberries are delicious, but they are also nutritious. You'll enjoy some health advantages by eating strawberries regularly, and the best part is strawberries are one of the most delicious fruits.

Strawberries contain a range of nutrients, with vitamin C heading the group. They also contain significant levels of phytonutrients and antioxidants, which fight free radicals. These antioxidant properties are believed to be linked to what makes the strawberry bright red.

So what are free radicals? Free radicals are elements that can damage cells, and they are thought to contribute to the formation of many kinds of cancer.

In addition to vitamin C, strawberries also provide an excellent source of vitamin K and manganese, as well as folic acid, potassium, riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, copper, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids.

According to the Environmental Working Group's 2003 report "Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce", strawberries are among the 12 foods on which pesticide residues have been most frequently found. Therefore, individuals wanting to avoid pesticide-associated health risks may want to avoid consumption of strawberries unless they are grown organically.

Recipe of the Month

Spinach Strawberry Salad with Maple-Honey Mustard Dressing

Salad
1 package (10 ounces) fresh organic baby spinach
1 pint fresh organic strawberries, cleaned and sliced lengthwise to 1/4-inch thickness
½ cup toasted walnuts

Dressing
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 Tbs honey
1 Tbs maple syrup
1 Tbs lemon juice
½ cup plain yogurt or low-fat sour cream
¼ tsp ground coriander

Combine dressing ingredients and pour over salad. If the dressing seems too thick, thin with a couple Tbs of milk.