Get your own Basket

In my last blog I introduced my twenty five looking, sixty something friend. I chatted a long time with her to find out what was her secret recipe? She gave some terrific insight about what to eat and what to avoid, which she learned over the years. She had an amazing perspective and gave some tips that inspired others also who were listening to the conversation. Some highlights of the conversation are as follows.

EAT EVERYTHING YOU LIKE, yes that is the exact thing she told me, just eat everything in moderation. She loves dining out, eats half the portion served and gets the other half back home for her next meal. Since the start of the day, she gets her energy from green juices and smoothies.

Keep yourself active as much as you can. At the tender age of sixty, after retirement she runs in the morning, takes yoga class twice a day, plays squash and takes ZUMBA classes. For working people, I know that is too much but you can still walk, take staircases instead of elevator, stretch your muscles along with committed daily one hour of either of cycling, jogging, yoga, swimming or cross training.

Include organically grown vegetables and fruits in your diet. She has subscribed to “Farm Share”, a Community Supported Agriculture initiative through which she receives baskets of organically grown fruits and vegetables. She pays $ six hundred and fifty or a single season to the community and receives her share. The reasons eat organic is, the produce is not loaded with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, is more nutritious and is not genetically modified. Though the produce may look shinier, healthier and brightly colored but by eating genetically engineered crops, we are introducing DNA into our bodies that we’ve never encountered during our millions of years of evolution. Everyone must read book by Jeffery Smith, “Seeds of Deception”.

If you have a piece of land, kitchen garden or even a balcony you can still grow some food on your own. You can grow various plants like cilantro, spearmint, thyme, mustard, basil, tomato, spinach, kale, strawberries or even eggplant in pots. Place the plant on a south-facing balcony, if possible, which is the best location for growing plants, since it gets more sunlight. Some plants that wilt in the direct sunlight grow better in other directions. Lettuce and herbs grow well in more shade, so they will do fine in balconies pointing north. For larger patches of land, you can grow onion, peas, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, radishes, melons, blueberries, turnips and carrots.

There are yet many thoughts and conversations with different people on growing organic food, which I will share in my blogs later, till then reflect on this blog and do share your comments below.