Come out this Saturday for the Sankofa Marketplace; children’s activities, farmers market with fresh produce and wild caught Louisiana shrimp, local entertainment, community resources, health screenings, and health resources. Held on the second Saturday of every month, Sankofa Marketplace takes place from 1pm – 4pm at the corner of Caffin and St. Claude in the Lower Ninth Ward (Parking Lot of All Souls Episcopal Church.)  The upcoming dates for spring and summer months are: April 10 – May 8 – June 12 – July 10 and August 14^th. This is such a great opportunity to get fresh produce in a place where it’s really hard to get them!

The Sankofa Marketplace was created by a coalition of artists, community groups, churches,and small business based in the Lower 9th Ward to stimulate economic development and community revitalization.  Started in August of 2008, the Market was created because of the absence of grocery stores in the neighborhood, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina flooding.  Almost 2 years later, not much has changed – residents still have to travel miles to the nearest grocery store elsewhere in New Orleans, or in Chalmette, or in St. Bernard Parish. Thankfully, the market is still going strong and perhaps once we have our new Mayor, we’ll see proper grocery stores coming to the area.

The Ujamaa Project:  Bring the Kids and Introduce Them to Fruits and Vegetables

The Ujamaa Project provides children with access to, and a positive experience with, fresh fruits and vegetables through visits to our Farmers Market and vegetable grill station. Children meet Sankofa Marketplace produce vendors and learn about the benefits and nutrition of vegetables and fruits through activities such as role play, drawing, printmaking, and imagination games. They also get to create artwork of their favorite vegetables and fruits. Children participating in the project’s activities also get a bag of fresh fruits and vegetables to take home and share with their families!

Introducing kids to fruits and vegetables in a fun, interactive and hands-on approach is a fabulous way to get kids interested and willing to give fruits and vegetables a try.  Getting kids to eat fruits and vegetables is critical for their current and future health.

Some screenings are also available:

• Free private HIV screenings in the NOAIDS Task Force mobile van.
• HIV and STD health information by St John #5 Camp Ace HIV Program

It’s no secret that fruits and vegetables are part of healthy eating. They are nutrient rich (vitamins, minerals and fiber) and relatively low in calories. So, we know they are healthy but there are other questions to be answered—How much? Which ones? Should I buy local?

Choose Color

One way to gauge the variety of the fruits and vegetables in your diet is to look at the colors on your plate. To start with choose dark green, orange, yellow and reds to pack your plate with nutrients.

More Matters

The more the better (while staying in your calorie requirements). A good start is to add a new fruit or vegetable to one meal each day and then increase it every few weeks. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has a great website www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov where you can find out how many fruits and vegetables you should be eating each day based on your age, sex, and activity level, as well as, recipe ideas, featured fruits and vegetables, and budget tips for stretching your fruit and vegetable budget.

Fresh or Frozen

Fresh or frozen, fruits and vegetables are good for you, however there are things to look for when choosing the frozen option—with vegetables watch out for sauces with added calories, when in doubt go for the plain ones. With fruits often times sweeteners are added so make sure you are purchasing the unsweetened.

Look Local

Farmers markets provide an excellent opportunity to choose new fresh fruits and vegetables and support your local community (read Eat Healthy and Help the Local Louisiana Economy for more information).  You can also be sure that what you are buying is in season! There are several farmers markets throughout New Orleans, here are a few:

Crescent City Farmers Market Has an Uptown, Mid-City and Downtown market. Check out their website for fruit and vegetable offerings.

Hollygrove Market and Farm Offers a bi-weekly market in Hollygrove, as well as, a community garden.

French Market You can find clothes, art, and jewelry, but tucked in between are several produce vendors offering locally grown Louisiana produce.

Whether you choose strawberries from Ponchatoula, turnip greens from Amite, or frozen broccoli from Rouses, make fruits and vegetables a part of your day!

What’s your favorite fruit and vegetable?!?

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Lauren Futrell Dunaway, MPH, RD, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Dietetics.  She then completed her dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After becoming a Registered Dietitian, she began to pursue a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Lauren currently works at the Tulane Prevention Research Center as a program manager for their core research project focusing on the built environment and how it affects obesity.

Eating healthy is a huge part of living a healthy lifestyle and one of the best ways to eat healthy is by eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Like most major cities, New Orleans has a farmers market – The Crescent City Farmers Market, brought to you by Market Umbrella, which rolls into town every Tuesdays in Downtown, New Orleans and Thursdays in Uptown, New Orleans.

The Crescent City Farmers Market brings to the citizens of the Big Easy fresh produces, fish, seafood and a variety of other foods which are from LOCAL vendors.  Buying local has tremendous benefits on the local economy but also on your taste buds and greater health.

1. Locally grown food tastes better.

Food grown in your own community was probably picked within the past day or two. It’s crisp, sweet and loaded with flavor. Produce flown or trucked in from California, Florida, Chile or Holland is, quite understandably, much older. Several studies have shown that the average distance food travels from farm to plate is 1,500 miles. In a week-long (or more) delay from harvest to dinner table, sugars turn to starches, plant cells shrink, and produce loses its vitality.

2. Local produce is better for you.

A recent study showed that fresh produce loses nutrients quickly. Food that is frozen or canned soon after harvest is actually more nutritious than some “fresh” produce that has been on the truck or supermarket shelf for a week. Locally grown food, purchased soon after harvest, retains its nutrients.

3. Local food preserves genetic diversity.

In the modern industrial agricultural system, varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen simultaneously and withstand harvesting equipment; for a tough skin that can survive packing and shipping; and for an ability to have a long shelf life in the store. Only a handful of hybrid varieties of each fruit and vegetable meet those rigorous demands, so there is little genetic diversity in the plants grown. Local farms, in contrast, grow a huge number of varieties to provide a long season of harvest, an array of eye-catching colors, and the best flavors. Many varieties are heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation, because they taste good. These old varieties contain genetic material from hundreds or even thousands of years of human selection; they may someday provide the genes needed to create varieties that will thrive in a changing climate.

4. Local food is GMO-free.

Although biotechnology companies have been trying to commercialize genetically modified fruits and vegetables, they are currently licensing them only to large factory-style farms. Local farmers don’t have access to genetically modified seed, and most of them wouldn’t use it even if they could. A June 2001 survey by ABC News showed that 93% of Americans want labels on genetically modified food – most so that they can avoid it. If you are opposed to eating bioengineered food, you can rest assured that locally grown produce was bred the old-fashioned way, as nature intended.

Source: Growing for Market

Make it a point in the New Year to check-out the Crescent City Farmers Market and perhaps create some new habits and traditions with your family.  Do check-out their websites The Crescent City Farmers Market, and Market Umbrella as both of the sites are full of great information. Don’t miss out on the recipe of the week…they are easy to follow recipes designed according to what’s available at the market!

I’m sure I’ll be blogging more about the Crescent City Farmers Market again soon but in the meanwhile, check out this video to learn more.