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

There’s been quite a bit of talking about fruits and vegetables this week.  Lauren gave us some pointers on how to select fruits and vegetables and Alison shared a recipe to get your kids to eat more vegetables with their meals.  I wanted to wrap up the week by providing you with 20 easy ways to add fruits and vegetables to your diet. Although, we’ve all heard the saying get 5-A-Day…according to the Centers for Disease Control, only 20% of the US population meets the recommended 5-A-Day (5 servings of fruits and veggies per day).

Fruits and vegetables come in many shapes, sizes, varieties and tastes. Many of us shun the idea of 5-A-Day, because we have this build in phobia that we acquired somewhere in our lives that fruits and vegetables ‘esp. vegetables’ taste bad. It does not have to be this way. Fruits and veggies are what we make them to be. They can be mouth watering and irresistible or they can taste like a lump of clay in our mouth – it’s all in the preparation.

If you just chomp down on a raw eggplant – no that’s not too appealing. However, if you stuff it with a trio of seafood, bread crumb’s and spices – we love it. Many clients I’ve counseled over the years had never tasted or experimented with uncommon fruits and veggies in our area. Some examples include: papaya, horned melon, kale, sprouts, kiwi, parsnips, lentils or garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and varieties of lettuce (butterhead, arugula or watercress). Another fear of my clients is not knowing how much to eat. We’ll get to what counts as a portion in a couple of weeks.

Provided below are tips that offer you ideas on how to get more fruits and vegetables into your daily meal planning. If you put a little thought into getting 5-A-Day – it’s very possible to meet your objective.

20 Ways to Get More Fruits And Vegetables In Your Diet

1. Grab an apple, orange, bag of grapes as you walk out the door and much on during your morning commute.

2. Before eating that fried shrimp Po-boy for lunch – order a house/green salad when dinning out.

3. Choose a ready-to-eat fruit cup instead of chips, candy bar or unhealthy sweets.

4. Add some veggies such as mushrooms (Red Hill local brand at Rouses), tomatoes, onions, green peppers, squash, zucchini to the grill when planning a BBQ.

5. Dip a few bananas into liquid dark chocolate (50 – 60% cocoa) and freeze for a couple of hours – kids love these.

6. Make a vegetable pizza for the family – load it up with carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, olives, onions and other favorite veggies.

7. Add Louisiana blueberries, blackberries or raspberries to pep up your morning breakfast cereal.

8. Try a meatless dish for dinner – examples include: roasted veggie lasagna, broccoli and tofu stir fry, veggie fajitas, replace angel hair spaghetti with spaghetti squash marinara or red beans and rice w/o the sausage.

9. Pack a small bag of dried apricots, apples, prunes, pineapples, and cranberries for a healthy snack.

10. Substitutions – use veggies instead of original ingredients i.e.: spaghetti squash for wheat spaghetti, mashed cauliflower for mashed potatoes, eggplants instead of veal parmesan.

11. Stop by and get a smoothie from Smoothie King for a snack – ask to double your fruit (strawberry) on drinks like the Caribbean way and Muscle Punch – but ask to wash the fruit to avoid too much sugar

12. Visit a Mediterranean restaurant – Acropolis on Vets in Metairie is a favorite of mine – order dishes like Hummus – which is made from chickpeas, Baba Ganoush – made from eggplant, Greek Salad – made with tons of veggies, or Spanakopita – made with spinach

13. Add some canned ‘no sugar added’ fruit cocktail to Jello and feed the family

14. Marinate some veggies of your choice and a dash of Tony Chachere’s (low sodium of course) or some of Chef Paul’s Magic seasoing and water overnight – I recommend using carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, celery and/or okra

15. Throw in some pears, mango, plums or grapefruit to take your ordinary vanilla yogurt blossom with flavor and nutrition

16. If cooking at home – try a traditional old style Italian side – wrap prosciutto around asparagus, sprinkle a little black pepper and extra virgin olive oil (first press) and bake for about 20 minutes – you can also wrap prosciutto around cantaloupe or honeydew melon or both for a nice appetizer

17. For a healthy dessert – slice some fresh or canned peaches, fresh or canned cherries, fresh kiwi or raisins on angle food or sponge cake

18. Participate with your children in community sponsored gardens – you take home and eat – nothing beats local. If you child’s school does not participate in this concept – volunteer with the school to start one

19. If dining out or eating at home – make it a Mexican night – choose guacamole, salad, salsa, tacos stuffed with veggies, gazpacho soup

20. Add some baked sweet potatoes or pumpkin with a little margarine and cinnamon to your pork or chicken meal as a healthy side

For more tips about how to create a successful home garden or to participate in community based gardening visit the LSU Agricultural Centers Website. For recipes, check out the CDC Fruit and Vegetable More Matters.

I also encourage ya’ll to go buy a fruit and vegetable cookbook – Vegetarian Times and Cooking Light are recommended – and start trying some new foods or put a new face on an fruit or veggie that you’ve tried before, but did not prefer. Remember that you’ll never know if you like something if you don’t try it (at least once or twice).

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Steve J. Roch Jr., RD, LDN, CFT is a registered and licensed dietitian. He is also a certified personal trainer. Steve is the owner and president of BestRD Wellness, LLC, a company that provides nutrition therapy and wellness services to residents and businesses in the areas of New Orleans and South Louisiana. Steve can be contacted by email at steve@bestrdwellness.com.

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.

Improving Your Nutrition from the Ground Up

Eating healthy can be a daunting task. Learning about what to eat, how to eat it, and how much can be overwhelming! That is why I am here to help! Registered Dietitians have the training to answer all those questions for you and more. With March being National Nutrition Month, I can’t think of a better time to start thinking about how we can make our diets more healthy. Over the next few weeks we will focus on one of the themes of National Nutrition Month, improving our nutrition from the ground up!

· Focusing on fruits and vegetables, especially those grown locally right here in Louisiana

· Making calories count, just because something is low calorie doesn’t meant it’s healthy

· Testing our taste buds! Trying new things to improve our palate and grocery lists

· Trick yourself with treats. Don’t be scared of this one, healthy doesn’t equal hungry

I’ll go into more detail for each one creating a tool-box of ideas, recipes, and steps to take towards a healthy diet. Healthy eating doesn’t mean sacrificing taste and it definitely doesn’t mean deprivation.

So come back next week to find out about focusing on fruits and vegetables with featured local produce, sold right here in New Orleans!

Check out www.eatright.org/nnm for more information on National Nutrition Month and more information on why Registered Dietitians are the nutrition experts you should seek for healthy eating advice.

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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.

Yesterday was the start of National Nutrition Month sponsored by the American Dietetic Association.

“National Nutrition Month focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. Registered Dietitian Day, also celebrated in March, increases awareness of registered dietitians as the indispensable providers of food and nutrition services and recognizes RDs for their commitment to helping people enjoy healthy lives.”

So in recognition of National Nutrition Month and the very exciting news that Be Fit NOLA now has a registered dietitian on board to blog for us – Lauren E. Futrell Dunaway, MPH, RD…more to come on Lauren later this week.  We have decided to do a fun giveaway.

Here’s how it works

To be in the drawing to win a brand new iPod, you need to leave a comment to this post with the top 3 healthiest items in your refrigerator and the top 3 unhealthiest items in your refrigerator. This is not required to win, but we would love it if you could also take a picture of what’s inside your frigde – add it to your Flickr account, join the Be Fit NOLA Flickr Group and share the picture of what’s in your fridge there (for our delight, nitpicking, and entertainment).

We will draw a winner next week, March 10^th.

BTW, for Aaron and I…in our refrigerator (picture included) the top three healthy items are: a variety of fruits and vegetables, skim milk and skinless grilled chicken (red container). Top three unhealthiest items are: the WholeFood’s Dill Tuna, a bottle of white wine (in the back) and light mayonnaise (on the door).

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.