"Fuel your body...Delight your senses"
Stephanie Brina-Herres, MS, RD, CDN
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Oct
29
2012
There have been many kinds of storms including hurricanes, tornadoes, nor’easters & more over the years & such storm activity will continue in the future. One can’t stress enough how important it is to have an emergency plan of preparedness that includes a checklist for supplies & be ready at a moment’s notice to actually implement any such plan.
Dietitians who operate feeding centers have to be prepared to serve thousands of meals, even if there is no power available and limited water supplies.
We have personally experienced 11 days without power after a microburst storm hit our area back in 1998 around Labor Day that year. Farther north of us earlier that same year many people experienced microburst storm activity to a much greater extent with freezing rain/ice. Just two years prior that area had experienced similar microburst winter ice storm activity and been without power for at least 17 days (and in many instances for several weeks) during the height of freezing cold winter.
Many people have experienced much worse storm damage and much longer periods without power, so know that being prepared really is essential.
(Image of potential disasters striking from 1993 Federal Emergency Management Agency aka FEMA materials developed in conjunction with the American Red Cross)
Disaster preparedness includes much more than just having adequate water and food supplies.
This two-part blog series is a compilation of some advisements put out by various emergency preparedness agencies and other sources to encourage readers to implement any emergency planning should you be in the path of any storm system at any given time.
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Aug
8
2012
Have you ever wished you could easily build a customized grocery shopping list that would make it easier when it comes time to head to the farmers market and stores for supplies?
There are MANY “kitchen” and “pantry” focused food item shopping lists that have been posted over the years, with some being much more comprehensive than others.
In this technical age there are both low tech and high approaches to dealing with coming up with those grocery shopping lists and we’ll cover some details of each type of approach.
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Aug
7
2012
In the Northeast, August is the month where truly more localized produce variety increases and all sorts of marketplaces will start to feature a wider range of locally sourced product.
We’d like to share some tips below to help make shopping for August Abundance that much more enjoyable for you. We’ll include ideas for before you head out shopping, once you arrive at the market place destination and while you are there, and then after you get back home again.
In PA the weather has often been more temperate in the growing regions and they’ve had enough rain fall to enable farmers to send their harvest to stores that buy directly from them, including ones in NY.
(Photo of corn stalks growing in a farmer’s field courtesy of our webmaster in PA).
As the month progresses, here in the Northeast, we expect to see sweet corn (including the classic “butter and sugar” variety), along with some early apples showing up at farm stands, farmers markets, and in grocery stores that buy “locally” as well. (Usually some produce will come in from both NJ and PA as well as NY).
Do you remember what other fruits and vegetables are typically seasonally available in the Northeast right now?
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Jul
10
2012
Tomatoes qualify as a very popular non-starchy “vegetable” (even if they are botanically a “fruit” per se) based on per capita consumption in the USA, second only to potatoes.
Year 2005 data from USDA noted tomato consumption from various sources, including primarily canned & frozen, as well as some fresh, to be close to 100# of farm weight/per person/per year.
The next closest non-starchy vegetable category item, carrots, was noted to have consumption levels at just above 10# of farm weight/per person/per yr.
(Different Tomatoes 2 graphic courtesy of salsachica at rgbstock.com)
What contributes to the wild popularity of tomato products?
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Jul
3
2012
We’ve discussed the importance of eating food choices from the “rainbow of color” options out there, but some readers wrote in asking for even more specifics than we have previously listed in various blog posts.
Although within the US we have moved from using a model of a food guide pyramid to using a model of a plate to encourage healthful choices in dining, there are still some useful pyramid options out there.
(Fresh Produce on Display in Taormina, Sicily, Italy, graphic courtesy of Betty H)
The “Mediterranean Diet” (general Mediterranean style dietary intake as part of a total lifestyle) visualized as a food guide pyramid is one example; and an anti-inflammatory pyramid popularized by Dr. Andrew Weil is another example.
For infotainment purposes only, we’ll share some anti-inflammatory food item options in the following listing, which is by no means all-inclusive, but should give you the gist of the breadth and depth of wonderful food source options that have been reported to have some anti-inflammatory properties. A dietetic colleague, John S. Pasztor, MPH, RD, CDE, over at the The Regional Diabetes and Endocrine Center, Cape Fear Valley Health System, gladly shares another version of a list from 2009 with his patients and with members of a dietetic practice group one of us belongs to.
We have used for inspiration bits and pieces of various skeleton listings out there and then come up with our own fleshed out infotainment version, subject to change/further updating, which follows. Research is ongoing and some items will show up on one list, but not another, in various reviews of research, so realize the list* is always subject to modification/updating as newer research results are reported and older results further clarified.
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Jun
26
2012
It’s summertime around the USA.
That means a plethora of fresh herbs, vegetables and also some fresh fruits for consumers to enjoy can be found in various Farmer Markets, State & local Fairs, road side stands, community & backyard & sideyard vegetable gardens, grocery stores, convenience stores including bodegas, as well as push carts, food trucks, etc.
In certain instances even area food banks and food pantries are lucky enough to receive some of nature’s abundance to be shared with others.
How can you find out what produce options will be available in your locale during any given month?
(Image source: University of MN Extension Farm to School Toolkit, Vermont Guide to Using Local Food, pg 85 of 116)
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