Food for Thought- Try a Community Garden

We all know its time to break out the shovels, spades, weeders, compost and seeds. But before you decide that weeding the backyard is more trouble than its worth, consider organizing a community garden.  Get the neighbors together (those people you drive by every day and still dont know more than their first names), decide on who has space, water, time, a good back, and delights in fresh vegetables. Then organize the party and get to work.  A lonely sunny side yard, a portion of the cul-de-sac or even the empty lot can work as long as you have access, water, and permission, of course.  Divide the gardens up if its easier- you do tomatoes and beans, I do squash and corn. The downside to all this is that you can't spend so much time on the couch. The upside is that you won't have to eat cardboard tomatoes any longer AND you might meet some neighbors while exercising. Just a thought.  

Local Foods:

If its impossible to grow your own, consider the local farmers' markets for produce. Local food has so many benefits- fresher, tastier (see tomatoes above), supporting the local economy, and reducing both monetary and ecological transportation costs.

Way To Rate Healthy Foods:

I pick up a bag of granola and the first thing I check is the caloric and fat content information. Am I alone?  What's really the best way to evaluate food?  A team of nutritionists and public-health experts have devised a new food rating system called ONQI- Overall Nutritional Quality Index" that evaluates foods by weighing "good" qualities like fiber, vitamins, and fatty acids against their "bad" qualities like fat, sugar, and salt. The resulting number (from 1 to 100) ranks the overall nutritional value. Broccoli rates 100, brown rice is 82, prunes 45, Bugles Original Corn Snacks (2- but are these really food?), and popcicles 1 (ouch). Not yet officially sanctioned by the USDA, it is appearing in grocery stores. Visit  www.nuval.com for a complete list of food values.