Health experts universally agree that Americans need to eat more fruits & veggies AND a wider variety of fruits and veggies.
Why? For starters, whole fruits and vegetables are packed full of nutrition (vitamins and minerals). And each type of fruit and vegetable has a slightly different nutritional profile. One might have 50% of your daily Vitamin C, another might be high in potassium, etc.
For your body and brain to get all the nutrients they need for you to be at your best requires a diversity of high quality, whole foods. (Nope, vitamin pills aren’t a substitute for good food.)
Secondly, fruits and veggies are packed full of fiber. Fiber is critical for gut health (aka feeding your microbiome), which helps you fight off sickness and chronic illness. Fiber is also essential for, um, other critical bodily functions (we’ll let you fill in the blanks here!).
Seasonally eating your way to a better diet
One great way to eat more fruits and veggies AND a wider variety of fruits and veggies is to eat what’s seasonally available from local farms. Each new month and season brings with it different varieties of produce.
Since San Diego County and southern California have a rich farm history and a mild climate, area residents are perfectly situated to enjoy a wide diversity of fresh seasonal produce from local farms.
Daily Harvest Express makes that process even easier for our busy customers by saving them the trip to the farmers market. We also work with a select group of top local certified organic farmers to ensure peak quality and freshness.
What season is on your plate?
Can you look at your dinner plate and tell what season it is? We hope so!
We can certainly tell what season it is when we’re preparing our Farm Boxes for home delivery and Breakroom Boxes for area businesses.
Here are few highlights we’d like to share with you this week:
1. Chocolate persimmons
You’ll LOVE the flavor of these organic chocolate persimmons.
You’ve probably had standard orange-colored Asian persimmons before, but if you’ve never had chocolate persimmons you’re in for a treat! These rare persimmons (by way of Annie Florendo at Sweet Tree Farms) are chocolate-colored inside and are highly sought after by gourmet chefs and foodies alike.
NPR describes chocolate persimmons as: “delicious — juicy and sweet but not too much. There’s a slight hint of spice, like nutmeg.”
2. Living microgreens
Another chef and foodie favorite available this week: microgreens! Microgreens are colorful, chock full of flavor, and crazy nutritious. How nutritious? A recent USDA study concluded:
“In general, microgreens contained considerably higher levels of vitamins and carotenoids—about five times greater—than their mature plant counterparts, an indication that microgreens may be worth the trouble of delivering them fresh during their short lives.”
Notice the “delivering them fresh” part in that last sentence? That’s why we’re delivering you living microgreens, which are as fresh as fresh gets — which translates to peak nutrition for you!
3. Asian pears
Like persimmons, Asian pears are another late-summer seasonal favorite for us. The more common European pears are picked rock hard and have to ripen at the store. However, Asian pears reach optimum quality when allowed to ripen on the tree.
Their taste and texture is exquisite: crisp, tart, sweet, and creamy. These won’t last long in your fruit bowl!
4. Anaheim peppers
Another late summer treat with a local history: Anaheim peppers. As the name suggests, these were made famous right up the road in Anaheim, California.
A legendary farmer and entrepreneur, Emilio Ortega, brought these peppers back home from New Mexico to his family farm in Anaheim back in 1894. The peppers were a huge hit with locals. Emilio used the roasted Anaheim pepper’s popularity to found Ortega, the first commercial food operation in the state of California.
Enjoy your fresh Anaheim peppers stuffed, grilled, diced, or made into any number of savory latino and southwest-style sauces!
Eat local, live well! Thank you for helping us support local organic farmers with each delivery of farm-fresh organic food to your home or office.
Order your Farm Box for home delivery or Breakroom Box for businesses delivery today!