Picky about My Produce

I love fresh fruit and vegetables. This weekend was our monthly pickup from Bulk Natural Foods. We ordered peaches and blueberries. Ever since I began making a greater effort to buy locally and directly from farmers, I have become spoiled to great tasting produce. So much of the produce at the grocery market is grown for its shelf life and appearance. This makes perfect sense from the store's perspective, but not for me.

Two years ago, I received a bucket of tiny filthy apples that were red and green with spots all over them. I thought I would make applesauce from them until I ate one. It was the best tasting apple I had had in years! These apples were picked from an apple tree that had been forgotten and neglected for years. They were ugly but fabulous! I have been picky about produce ever since.

Every diet out there has vegetables as a high priority. You can't go wrong by eating more veggies and fruits. Aside from ordering from Bulk Natural Produce, there are several other things I do to get the best quality food into my house:

• Grow my own. I have a small garden and it doesn't produce enough to stock up for the winter, but it gives us a chance to have some great tasting heirloom veggies.  
• Visit the local farmers markets and fruit stands, get to know the sellers, and ask questions. Did they grow their own? Or did they go over to Aldi an buy a bunch of fruit to resell. I have seen someone do this.
• Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and get a regular delivery of farm fresh produce or, as in our case, grass pastured meats. 
• Gleaning. Before the supermarkets, there was mother nature. There are wild blackberries along the country roads (or greenways) just begging to be picked. With prices at close to $5.00/pt. at some of the markets, it is really worth it to stop and pick a bag.