Happy New Year to you all! 2010 has arrived with a definite crispness to the air. The beginning of a year often spurs the setting of healthy goals or intentions. Eating healthily is always tops on my list of things to do. Eating healthily requires planning and great resources, so I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorite places to get the good stuff.
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Foods With Vitality
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In Chinese medicine if one wants to feel full of vim and vigor, one should eat foods with vitality. Fresh, seasonal, locally produced foods would qualify as foods with plenty of vitality. Packaged foods, on the other hand, do not contain much vitality. All of the extensive processing packaged foods go through (starting with foods such as wheat that are bred for their ability to withstand machinery - not bred to be digestible!) severely deplete them of their vitality or qi. They may be convenient, but many of my teachers have ingrained in me the idea that where food is concerned, if you choose convenience, you choose disease. Microwaving the vitality out of foods while at the same time contaminating your food with the chemicals that are leached from the plastics containers is a good example.
Luckily, here in the Twin Cities we have plenty of sources for fresh, seasonal, locally produced foods such as co-ops, buying clubs, CSAs and farmers' markets.
 We have an abundance of food cooperatives: Seward Co-op, Wedge Co-op, East Side Co-op, Mississippi Market and Linden Hills Co-op just to name a few. You don't have to belong to a co-op in order to shop there, but I must admit I felt a certain sense of pride after I joined the Seward co-op years ago.
A little over a year ago a private buying club, Traditional Foods Minnesota (TFMN), arrived on the scene. TFMN is housed in a warehouse near 61st and Nicollet, and brings together local farmers and producers with those who want a closer connection to their food source. The Lucky Pig pork products are absolutely divine - nothing like any other pork I have ever tasted. In addition to pork, poultry, beef, lamb and goat products are available. Fermented foods, local cheeses, honey, maple syrup, grains, healthful snacks like Beccaroons and other seasonal produce are ready to fill your home pantry.
TFMN as a buying club is a great deal too. 75 bucks buys a LIFETIME membership, but if you'd like to do a trial shopping day, you can opt for a $10 day membership.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a great way to support local farmers, reduce the miles that your food has traveled to get to your table and receive a box of beautiful produce on a weekly basis (usually from June-October). Read all about CSAs and look for the CSA fair that Seward Co-op holds in the early spring.
The Twin Cities is also home to many vibrant Farmers' Markets. Check out the locations and opening dates here. Be sure to chat up the farmer from whom you are purchasing your food - that way you'll be sure to find out their growing methods, if they use pesticides, etc. My favorite Farmers' Markets are the Mill City Farmers' Market (located next to the Guthrie Theatre) and the St. Paul Farmers' Market. It's fun to make a date to explore the markets when spring arrives.
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Grow Your Own Meals
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 Another option in addition to all of the above sources for vital food would be to grown your own vegetables, fruits, and culinary herbs. I feel very spoiled because my husband grows the majority of our vegetables in our back yard. We have beautiful fertile soil, and he grows edible magic in that soil. This plate full of vegetables was from our garden this summer - all chopped and ready to go into a tasty stir fry. It's not hard to tell the difference in taste between home grown and vegetables shipped in from California.
The seed catalogs have hit gardeners' mailboxes already, and the planning process has begun for the experienced gardeners. But if you don't have any prior gardening experience and would like some sage advice, I offer the following recommendations:
If you would like a more wild, organic garden, Russ Henry of Giving Tree Gardens is your go-to man. Russ installed the beautiful and edible gardens at the previous and current Seward Co-op. Russ puts out an informative and inspirational newsletter, The Seed, that is well worth checking out.
If a more formal, but organic garden is to your taste, then Mary and Joe Mueller of Garden Life and Living Foods would be a good fit for you. Mary and Joe are a great team, and Mary can teach you how to preserve your harvest as well whether it's making jams, jellies, fermented vegetables, kefir/piima cream or canning. Mary's Living Foods can be found at Traditional Foods Minnesota. Contact Mary and Joe at 952-472-1678.
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Meal Planning Made Easy
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 What to do if you really don't like perusing cook books for menu ideas, but you would like to make healthy meals? Dinner With Jennette may be just the thing for you. Jennette Turner is a natural foods educator. She often teaches classes at the Wedge, and I had the opportunity to take a few classes from her this past fall at the Holistic Health and Herbal Education Festival.
Dinner With Jennette-Meal Plans for Naturally Health Eating is an online healthy menu planning subscription service that features a wide variety of natural food meal plans that will guide you on what to buy, how to prepare it, and why it's good for you.
The annual subscription is $85 - well worth it for how much time you save. The subscription includes a new series of 12 seasonal meal plans (recipes, shopping list and nutrition advice) that are gluten-free (with a dairy-free option) that are available on the first day of each month for you to download from your computer.
Check out her sample meal plan, and be prepared to have your mouth start watering in anticipation.
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Inspirational DVDs
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 If you need a little inspiration to eat more healthily, you're in luck. This year spawned a bunch of food documentaries, most notably Food, Inc. and Fresh, the movie.
Food, Inc. would be for you if you are Hungry For Change, and it is now available on DVD.
Fresh, the movie - New Thinking About What We're Eating - is still being shown around town by various co-ops and restaurants. Mississippi Market is sponsoring a free showing at the West 7th Community Center on January 13th at 6:30 pm.
A few of my favorite older DVDs about food are Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock and The Future of Food by Deborah Koons Garcia. Newstarget.com says, "If you eat food, you need to see The Future of Food." Both films are available at my clinic for your home viewing.
Many documentaries are available for view at hulu.com.
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Recipe of the Month
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Barley and Mushroom Pilaf
 I hope you have been enjoying the Recipes of the Month from Daverick Leggett's Recipes for Self Healing. This month's Barley and Mushroom Pilaf is a tasty dish that will put a smile on your face. Barley is very easy to digest and mushrooms are chock full of healthful benefits. They add a delightful earthiness to the dish.
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 Of course, it's not just what you eat, but what you digest as well. If you have any digestive concerns, please call to make an appointment for acupuncture, and you'll be set to digest whatever 2010 brings!
Warmly yours,
Katherine Krumwiede, L.Ac.
Diamond Stone Oriental Medicine, Inc.
612 872 9133
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Quote of
the Month
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Why YOUR cooking is always the best. . .
To cook for someone is to give tangible shape to your care;
it sustains the body, nourishes the soul and pleases the senses.
Whole Foods Market News
November 1996
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Gift Certificates Are Available
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Give the gift of good health to your friends and family.
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