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Spring is in the air! With this unseasonably warm start to spring, it is hard not to get excited about all the vegetables that will be coming into season soon here in the Midwest. Springtime provides excellent opportunities to help children learn about seasonality of life. It is a time of awakening and rebirth not only for the plants and animals in the forest, but for people too, as fresh local food starts to become abundantly available again in our region.
We always take this time to celebrate with the children the first fresh green foods that become available in our yard. For us, due to our greenhouse, we are able to enjoy quite a variety of vegetables pretty early on in the season. But even for people who have no yard at all, there are many great vegetables that you can make a regular part of your local spring diet that will be available at farmers markets across the region. Here are two of our favorites:
French Sorrel
French sorrel is one of my all time favorite spring veggies. It is also one of the first things to start growing in early spring. It is a great plant for any yard due to the fact that it is a perennial. Plant it once and it will come back every season. French sorrel is a leafy green with the most amazing fresh lemony taste. It is always one of the first vegetables I let anyone try who comes to tour our yard.
I will always remember the look on one kid’s face when he saw me pick a leaf out of a plant growing on the ground and give it to him to taste. He reluctantly took a bite and then his whole face lit up! He absolutely loved it! We use French sorrel in a variety of ways, it can take light cooking as well as raw preparations. Some of our favorites ways to eat it are to throw it in salads, mix it with hot pasta, walnuts, and Parmesan cheese, or finely dice it and add it to tuna salad.
Asparagus
I know most people have had asparagus, but it is imperative to note that there are two kinds of asparagus: the kind that is available at the grocery store, which is usually grown on the other side of the planet, and the kind that is only available in the springtime, grown by local farmers and gardeners. The latter is what I am talking about here. If you have never tasted freshly picked asparagus, you are missing out on one of the best parts of spring.
When asparagus become available at our local farmer's market, we eat a great deal of it. So much, in fact, that by the time it is no longer available, we have had our fill. We then eagerly await its arrival next year, knowing all that comes along with it. We eat asparagus in many ways. Some of our favorites include sautéed in pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese, grilled with a little olive oil and lemon, and pureed into creamy asparagus soups. When cooking with asparagus, remember to snap off the tough woody end and cook it lightly. Overcooked asparagus is better suited for the compost pile then it is for eating.
-Jeremy Arendt is head cook and co-owner of Sprouts Home DayCare, an organic, eco-healthy day care located in the Northwest Chicago Suburbs. He graduated from the University of Illinois Springfield where he studied sustainable food systems. When he is not cooking for the kids, you can usually find him tending to the gardens or hanging out in the greenhouse with his dog.
-photo credit: tiny banquet committee, Flickr
A new self-produced exhibition Bikes! The Green Revolution debuts Friday at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.
The exhibit runs March 30 through September 9, 2012 and, according to exhibit organizers, chronicles the roots of "America’s most democratic and sustainable form of transportation" and the future of people powered transportation in our changing urban landscapes.
"Bikes! The Green Revolution" is included in Nature Museum general admission.
For more information visit www.naturemuseum.org.
-photo credit: Whateverland.com/Lorena Cupcake, flickr
Dear EarthTalk: Ever since the red dye #2 scare in the 1970s I’ve been wary of using food colorings or buying food that appears to contain them. Are there natural and healthy food colorings? -- Nancy McFarlane, Methuen, MA
Many of us are still wary of food dyes because of reports about links between red dye #2 and cancer in the 1970s. While red dye #2 was subsequently banned from products sold in the United States, many health-conscious consumers continue to avoid foods with other artificial colors or dyes—even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still considers them safe for human consumption.
But a 2010 analysis of past research on links between food dyes and health by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) found compelling evidence that ingestion of artificial dyes can contribute to hyperactivity, restlessness and attention problems in some children—particularly those with ADHD. “What’s more, the studies suggested that removing dyes from those children’s diet was a quarter to half as effective in reducing those symptoms as giving the kids Ritalin or other stimulants,” reports Nancy Cordes, CBS News’ Consumer Safety Correspondent. “In other words, certain kids with ADHD might not need drugs if the artificial dyes were removed from their diets.” Several commonly used artificial food dyes are suspected carcinogens as well.
While it might be impossible to prevent your children from eating anything with artificial dye, you can do your part by shopping at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s—both chains have banned products that use artificial dyes and carry all-natural food coloring for home cooking and baking projects.
One brand to look for is India Tree, which makes a line of food coloring derived from vegetable colorants. The company’s “Nature’s Colors Natural Decorating Colors” contain no corn syrup or synthetic dyes, and are highly recommended for coloring icing in rich jewel tones or soft pastels.
Another company specializing in natural (as well as organic) food colors is Nature’s Flavors, whose products are widely used commercially in ice cream, baked goods, frosting, dairy products, syrups, sauces, beverages and even hair colors. The company recently began to sell their products to consumers, as well, through retail stores. They use a variety of plant materials, including beets, turmeric root, annatto seeds, purple carrot, purple cabbage, gardenia flowers, hibiscus flowers and grape skin. “Our natural food colors are made from plants and contain powerful antioxidants, which help the body repair itself from the effects of oxidation,” claims Nature’s Flavors. “Using natural or organic food colors may actually help the brain and slow down the effects of aging.”
Another leading maker of all-natural food coloring is Chefmaster, whose products can be found at Whole Foods and other natural and high end food retailers, as well as on amazon.com and elsewhere online.
CSPI would like the FDA to ban eight of the most common artificial dyes, or at least affix a warning label to products that contain them: “Warning: The artificial coloring in this food causes hyperactivity and behavioral problems in some children.” In the meantime, concerned eaters should stick with products, stores and restaurants that use natural ingredients.
CONTACTS: India Tree, www.indiatree.com; Nature’s Flavors, www.naturesflavors.com; CSPI’s “Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks,” www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdf.
EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E -The Environmental Magazine ( www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: [email protected]. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.
-photo credit: Hemera Collection
