Local abundance!

As summer very slowly makes its way to our region of the world, with it comes an abundance of produce, farmer's markets, and an overall feeling of fresh.

I read a quick interview with the author of the book Cooked by Michael Pollan. He says that the number one thing we can do to be healthier is to cook at home. He stresses that cooking is key to changing our health and the environment, and those who cook for themselves consume a healthier diet. One of the points that he made is that if we let corporations cook for us, they are going to buy food from the biggest monocultures. But we as consumers have a choice. We can take time out of our day and choose the food we prepare, how we prepare it and where it comes from.

The citizens of the Coulee Region are fortunate to be surrounded by agricultural heaven! We have local farmer's markets several times a week, where produce grown locally can be purchased only hours after it was picked! We can drive right up to a farmer's door and pick the cow, pig, sheep, etc that we want to have butchered for our freezer. We can see how it was raised and what it was fed.

I'm trying my best to buy more locally and shop healthier. As summer finally arrives I hope to continue to frequent our local farmer's markets and experiment with new recipes! Cooking can be such a joy, and seeing my kids try new things and discovering they enjoy them makes it worthwhile.

Now If I could only get them to do all the dishes.

For more, see this article: Buying local and organic food on the Balance Your 7 website.