crunchy bits

The always awesome celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is starting a food revolution!

Watch his impassioned speech upon receiving the 2010 TED Prize, which is awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and, much more important, “One Wish to Change the World.” Visit his TED Prize page to offer your support.

TED: Ideas worth spreading is a series of “riveting talks by remarkable people”. So much here to watch, so little time. I put it on while I make dinner, clean, or sit down to do something that doesn’t require my full attention, like knitting or crocheting. If you haven’t checked it out, give it a whirl.

You can help initiate change on the smallest of levels — in your own home.

1. Ask yourself: Where does this food come from? How did it get here in our home — how far did it travel, what was it exposed to (chemical fertilizer, pesticides, irradiation, etc). How was it produced? Opt for the least amount of processing whenever possible.
2. Look at the ingredients on the food packaging. In general try to avoid things that aren’t food — preservatives, artificial colors and flavors. (see our Resources section for the CSPI’s Safety of Food Additives to learn more)
3. If you have children, teach your kids how to read labels as well. And bring them into the kitchen when you cook! Have a  special “kitchen date” once a week where they pick the meal they want to learn to make.
4. Eat a variety of fruit and vegetables from local, sustainable farms and from the ocean. As Michael Pollan says “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
5. Support your local farmers. We’re so lucky in CT to have CTFarmFreshExpress.com which makes doing so a breeze. Don’t forget the hidden costs of shipping food from long distances when comparing the prices to the corporate grocery store. Produce begins to lose nutrients from the moment it is picked, and the fossil fuel required to get it from far away to your door has a cost beyond the price per gallon.
6. Explore wild foods – many “weeds” are higher in nutrients than the plants you grow in your garden. Nettles, chickweed, lambsquarters and dandelion just to name some common in our area.
7. Nutrition is one of the most important factors for health. Be mindful of what you put in and on your body! Add more and more fresh fruit and vegetables in, crowding out the less healthy choices.
8. Grow some of your own food. During the food shortages of WWII, people across America rallied and started Victory Gardens. Let’s revive the Victory Garden!

As long as we’re on the topic of revolution, have you seen the Homegrown Revolution? Look at what this family has done with 1/5th an acre (1/10th is cultivated). No space is too small! Get your seeds today!

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 1:56 am and is filed under gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.