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August 18, 2006
Fun And Healthy Facts About Pennsylvania Vegetables
I was driving back from Scranton yesterday morning, and as is my custom, I stopped at the Allentown Farmers' Market, which is located at the Allentown PA Turnpike stop, to pick up some fresh local fruits and veggies. While I was there, a little yellow pamphlet with the title quoted in today's headline caught my eye. It's published by the Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program, and it's just fabulous!!! Included in the pamphlet is tons of easy to read and understand info about fruits and vegetables, including pictures of veggies by categories (seeds, roots, stems, seed pods, flower buds, and veggies that are actually fruits! Did you know that an eggplant is technically a fruit? I did not know! Therefore by seed and root and stem and bud and leaf and flower and fruit do we invoke Thee!)
Instructions on eating 3-5 vegetables per day with examples are given, and they even break down the veggies, suggesting that you eat one veggie high in Vitamin A (broccoli, cantaloupe, carrot, lettuce, peppers, spinach, winter squash), one high in C (asparagus, snap beans, lima beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts, lettuce, peas, peppers, tomatoes, etc.), and one high in fiber (beans, broccoli, brussels, cauliflower, etc.) Can you believe this awesome pamphlet? It even talks about how many acres of PA land are devoted to growing fruits and vegetables, broken down by vegetable!
I am totally blown away by the brillance of this pamphlet. It makes me proud to be a Pennsylvanian. It's cute, easy to read, educational, not preachy at all and it's pictures of veggies are just adoreable! It's really encouraging to be at a turnpike stop, a haven of junk food packed with Roy Rogers, Nathan's Hot Dogs, Pizza Hut, and Hershey's Ice Cream, and then to step outside to the Farmers' Market, and oasis of beautiful, healthy, incredibly fresh and delicious produce, and then find this delightful pamphlet. I have been carrying the thing around and showing it to everyone I know.
Meanwhile, I went crazy at the Farmers' Market, stocking up on sweet blackberries, yummy blueberries, unusually orangy crookneck squash, juicy plums, Kriby pickles (which are actually cucumbers) and these gargantuan okra that caused MR to exclaim "Holy *&*(" when he took them out of their produce bag. Needless to say, weekend cooking will be all about fresh veggies and fruits from the PA Farmers' Market. Recipes to follow!
Posted by april at August 18, 2006 8:00 AM
Comments
I liked reading your story. Now if only more people would choose the market over the fast food, maybe more of us would die of old age instead of heart disease.
Posted by: Crystal Neff at July 16, 2007 12:26 AM