Celebrating Nutrition on America’s “Food Day”
Too young for the POP Club, Ethan shops anyway every Saturday!
Hamburgers, pizzas, french fries, and sugary drinks in today’s fast-paced grab n’ go food culture, are now staples for many. But this unhealthy diet has led to a huge increase in chronic health problems, obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure, which all plague our community and the increasing the world, as the western highly processed fast food spreads across the globe. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 34 percent of adults and 17 percent of children and adolescents are now obese, staggering numbers that the organizers of Food Day, a nationwide event taking place on October 24, hope to decrease dramatically.
POP Club purchases!The Oregon City Farmers Market is tackling these statistics with our kid’s POP Club…by introducing kids early to shopping at the farmers market and encouraging them to make smart food choices, we are hoping to make a difference. In celebration of Food Day the Market will be visiting 2 OC elementary schools this coming week, King and Mt. Pleasant…..talking to the kids about the POP Club and encouraging them to eat fresh fruits and veggies…spreading the word about the Power of Produce!!
Food Day has been organized to draw attention to healthy and nutritious foods but promoting safe, healthy and affordable food is only one aim of Food Day, which is sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit watchdog group that fights for food labeling, better nutrition, and safer food. The organizers also want to support sustainable, humane farming, and fair trading conditions and sustainable farming in the U.S. Here in Oregon City with the year-round farmers market (Winter Market starts Saturday Nov. 5th at 10am, on 8th St) we are not only making access to nutritional foods more available but also supporting small local family farms. Twelve of our fifteen produce farms are from Clackamas County….two are just outside the County line (Silverton), two are from eastern WA…one from Hood River ! Read more…and yes we took a few sentences from this terrific blog; Celebrating Nutrition on America’s “Food Day” | Nourishing the Planetblogs.worldwatch.org
So…how will YOU celebrate Food Day Monday? Hopefully you’ll shop for some wonderful fresh ingredients at the Market this Saturday! Winter Squash, peppers, onions, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, root veggies, potatoes, heirloom apples, pears, grapes…the list goes on. Meats, goats cheese, fresh fish, pickles, preserves, breads, pastries…what will you fix? Even if it’s only one all-local ingredients meal on the 24th….( invite friends, neighbors) or take something you prepared to work Monday.
Fall comes to Leone’s Farm.Seasonal foods in the Market this week include: Huckleberries from Wild Oregon (and fresh fish to serve them with!) Cider from Pro-Farm, Parsnips from Family Table Farm and the long awaited “Quince Charming” preserves from Diana’s Delights! Leones has pumpkins, peppers, grapes, (great for juicing) as does Flying Onion Farm, back this week with red seedless grapes , Delicata squash (the easiest of winter squash and some of the tastiest) braising mixed greens (quick to saute with oil , garlic and a little sea-salt), napa cabbage, fennel, apples and pears, peppers and more….and we’ll have tons of farm eggs for once!
Out this week are Kaseay’s Kreations and Pappardelles Pasta….but Savory et Sweet are bringing their new trailer…enabling them to make hot coffee, as well as their wonderful crepes and soups…Chris and Gary are super-excited, stop by and grin too!
Music this week is by the one and only Becker Heads…sure to get your feet tapping! Not only is Jeff Becker helping , as always, to set up the Market …but he’s entertaining us as well! 10am to 1pm.
Kids POP club continues (Thanks to Clackamas County’s Soil and Water Conservation District ) with $2 to every child (5-12) who comes to market and we now have up to $5 in matching funds to give out to Or. Trail customers, (thanks to The Rotary Club of Oregon City)
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