Garden Kauai » Health

Help Make a Salad Cost Less than a Big Mac

Garden Kauai — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:44:12 +0000

Thanks to agricultural subsidies, the least healthy foods are also the cheapest to buy.

From GOOD ….

In 1933, Congress passed a cornerstone of New Deal reform, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which paid farmers to cut the production of commodities like wheat and corn in an effort to lift farms out of the depths of the Great Depression. Since then, government farm programs have evolved into a confusing labyrinth of tax reductions, price supports, and direct payments designed to help farmers deal with fluctuating weather patterns and market prices—all to ensure a stable supply of food.

Just mention subsidies and most people’s eyes glaze over. But government subsidies transfer hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to large farmers who grow just a few types of crops, creating some of the country’s least deserving welfare recipients. Subsidies set price minimums and ensure that corn, soy, wheat, and rice producers get paid regardless of how low prices for their crops are or whether they even need assistance in the first place. These subsidies support the cheap and unhealthy domestic food that shows up in the aisles of the supermarket. And they’re the reason why a salad costs more than a Big Mac.

Super Food: Sprouts

Garden Kauai — Sat, 08 May 2010 02:09:36 +0000

The health benefits of sprouts, both medicinally and nutritionally, have been studied for centuries and it is time we made them a household name and a permanent special place in our kitchen adventures. From prevention to treatment of life-threatening diseases, the chemical/molecular composition of sprouts is so impressive, it’s been said by the medical community that sprouts are better for you then the actual full grown produce (veggie/legume/grain/etc..)

The Dirty Dozen Cheat Sheet

Garden Kauai — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:32:14 +0000

The world’s cutest pocket guide to buying organic

While always preferred, buying organic is often cost-prohibitive and, with some produce, sometimes less important. Heidi Kenney’s downloadable Dirty Dozen Cheat Sheet makes that split-second decision on whether to spend that extra 20 cents a pound on organic bananas or organic strawberries a little easier.

Mango Colada Smoothie

Garden Kauai — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:27:17 +0000

From GreenChef Jana @ G Living

This is one of my favorite flavor combinations. It reminds me of when I lived in Hawaii and had all the local fresh wild mangos, pineapples and coconuts I wanted. It has a very subtle yet tropical and refreshingly fragrant taste and smell. It will make you want to layer on suntan oil and lay out on a beach all day. Well at least it does for me. It’s not often that I get to buy fresh organic pineapple. It is fairly expensive and I try to buy mostly local foods from my local farmer’s market. I do miss the beautiful tropics though and these treats bring me right back. Please choose organic whenever possible.

View the recipe …

Source: GreenChef Jana/ G Living

Farmed Fresh

Garden Kauai — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:45:52 +0000

Photo Credit: Nicole Milne

Finding the best local produce in Hawai’i

With the recent push in Hawai’i to move away from our dependence on imported food and return to the smart and self-sufficient model of local food production, farmers’ markets are popping up in parking lots across the state in support of this goal. But not all farmers’ markets operate with local farmers in mind as some vendors buy from bulk-item grocery stores and try to pass off imported produce to island residents at inflated prices. GREEN has sifted through the open-air market hodgepodge and found the real farmers’ markets, the collectives that promote local farmers and the freshest, locally grown produce, bridging the gap between farmer, consumer and table.

Kauai Farmers Markets …

Source: Kevin Whitton, Green Magazine Hawaii

Mean Green Kale Smoothie

Garden Kauai — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:38:41 +0000

This smoothie was pretty much an accident, but a good one if you ask me. Sunday afternoon I was making some Kale Chips, and as I was tearing off the leaves I kept having small pieces that were to small to make chips out of, so I would just toss them in my blender which was right in front of me, after all was said and done I had a small hand full of kale greens in the bottom of my blender.

After that I decided to make my salad for the next day and had a fuji apple I sliced up to put in the salad, but an entire apple was going to be too much for the salad, so I tossed about a 1/2 – 3/4 of the apple into the blender as well. In addition to the apple I tossed in 1/2 an avocado as well. At this point I thought I had something pretty good going, so I continued adding ingredients to the blender. When all was said and done I had added 4 TBSP of honey, 2 bananas and a cup of almond milk.

The finished smoothie originally only had one banana but the taste of the kale was still very strong, so I added one more to smooth things out a bit, for those of you that like a strong “greens” taste to your smoothie you may consider not adding the extra banana, but even with two bananas the smoothie still had a bit of a “green” taste to it, but not overwhelmingly so. Just perfect in my book.

View the final recipe

Source: Organic Climber / G Living